Endeavour to Stargate Command
by trek-grrrl
Summary: SG1, IDOJ. Two astronauts are rescued by Thor, and their new lives begin at the SGC. Premier story in series. One chap rated M, warning given. Part I of V.
1. 16 MAR 2004

Author's Notes Prior to Reading: 

Alternate Universe Stargate SG-1: Jacob/Selmak are alive and there's no Jack/Sam relationship. Not a whiff.

Alternate Universe I Dream of Jeannie: Tony and Roger were born in 1954, thus they're about O'Neill's age. They're space shuttle astronauts. I gave Roger degrees in Geology and Planetary Sciences, and Tony one in Mathematics/Computers. Tony and Jeannie aren't married (yet.) Jeannie appears to not be a djinn at all, but a descendant of the Ancients.

Please read and review, I always appreciate it!

ENDEAVOUR to STARGATE COMMAND

16 MAR 2004 The Picnic

Tony sat on the bed, head in hands, and thought about the last time he'd seen her.

They'd been at a park in Cocoa Beach, Florida, having a picnic. Beautiful sunny Spring day, one of the first Saturdays of the month without rain or lightning during this tempestuous time of year.

She'd been wearing a lovely sun-dress, with complimentary hat and shoes, always dressed like a lady when they went out in public. He loved strolling along the sidewalk with her, arm-in-arm, showing the world what a lovely lady he had. They made a very handsome couple, and people in the area who knew him, knew he was an astronaut, would smile hello to them as they passed by.

Now she was gone. He'd left to go to the rest-room, returned and no Jeannie. He thought maybe she'd discreetly popped back to the house for something, before packing to go home the 'normal' way, so he began packing what was there. And waited. Waited some more.

After an hour of this, he called her. All he got was the answering machine. He left a message, telling her if she got this, that he was heading home.

He got home, and all that she had, anything that was hers, was gone. No bottle.

What could he do, call the police, tell him his genie was missing? He'd wait and see.


	2. 17 JUL 2004

17 JUL 2004 

The two astronauts watched as the remainder of the crew and mission specialists transfered to the recently-completed International Space Station, currently in geo-stationary orbit over North America. The Mission Commander turned to his Pilot.

"That about wraps that up, let's begin final exit sequence before we park her here."

Working together like a well-oiled machine, the two men went about the procedures of basically "battening down the hatches" before tranfering to the space station as well, leaving the shuttle docked on one of the outer gantries.

As each one checked the other's spacesuit seals, as one final precautionary measure, the shuttle suffered a resounding jolt, and looking out the docking window, the Mission Commander could see the sky spinning madly about. The ship was turning in one direction, and relative to them, they were spinning in the opposite.

"Meteor!" his companion yelled. It wasn't just a meteor, it was a BIG meteor (as compared to most, which are usually almost microscopic.) This was moving with enough relative force to jolt the shuttle away, dangling like a fish floating in the air to the gantry, before the mass of the meteor hitting the shuttle caused it to come loose entirely.

The two men, who had been trained for just such an emergency but had never encountered such, went into automatic adrenalin mode, going through the readings, seeing what they could do to salvage both the shuttle and their lives.

The Pilot looked at the readings.

"Um... " and he looked at his commander with fear in his eyes. "We're not going to make a clean re-entry. Angle's all wrong, we're going in way too steep. Don't have enough fuel to compensate." He peered intently at another reading. "Right aileron's gone, no attitude control even if we DID get into the atmosphere without burning up." Bad enough that landing the shuttle was like landing a brick with wings, without any external damage!

The Mission Commander peered over his shoulder and got grim confirmation.

"Houston, do you read? Are you picking up what our instruments are reading?"

"Acknowledged, Endeavour. Please stand by, we're calculating any possibilities for you to consider."

The two men looked at each other, resignation in their eyes. They weren't stupid. They knew NASA wasn't going to find a solution. First one, then the other, looked at the space station. So close, but it may as well be a million miles away. The way the shuttle was careening out of control, even if they could go EVA, they didn't have the equipment to risk free-fall travel from the shuttle to the station.

As the moments ticked by, they began to feel a sense of calm, of acceptance.

"Endeavour, this is Houston," came the now-subdued voice.

They knew what the verdict was: slowly spiral in, then burn up on re-entry. And they had no way to get help.

"I so wish..." the Mission Commander started... "But I can't. Not any more."

His companion sighed heavily, and shook his head in sad agreement. "How long?"

"I'd say about two hours before we start feeling it, at the current rate we're accelerating. Gaining speed as we get closer to the gravity well."

The 2IC began to shed his spacesuit. No point in wearing it now, and being uncomfortable. He reached into his locker for his usual on-board coveralls, and took out two items, handed one to the Mission Commander.

"Our victory dance." Both plucked the cigars from the glass tubes, and did a mock toast, but neither felt like lighting them. May as well not add fuel to the fire, but the symbolism was enough.

The news of the Endeavour's fate was being fed to the SGC and, indeed, to all military installations. The government wasn't quite ready to make it public, until they could calculate where the shuttle would come down. Crash. No other word for it, O'Neill thought, as he grimly listened to the exchange between space and Earth.

All the travels they did, via the Stargate system, and yet our own space program seemed so primitive, compared to what SG-1 had encountered in the last several years. Yet the vast majority of humankind, indeed the US Air Force and NASA, was unaware of the Stargate program, and space exploration continued on as it had for decades.

Carter turned from the radio they were listening in on, with pleading in her blue eyes.

"General, is there NOTHING we can do? Can we contact Thor, some of the other Asgard, someone who might be in the vicinity? I can try to contact the Tok'ra, see if someone's close enough." She looked downcast though. "I know the chances are very slim they could get here in time."

The only small good thing he could think of in all this, was that they'd deboarded the crew and specialists before it happened. Seven people transfered safely to the spacestation, and the two astronauts were doomed to a fiery fate.

He took the crystal that Thor had given him a long time ago, to use to contact him, and toyed with the idea. Two lives. Thor was often reluctant to interfere in any way with the normal day-to-day activity on Earth. O'Neill was reluctant to use it, not "just" for two lives, but also what it would do to the two men if the Asgard showed up. And he didn't want to use a favor when it might be used for something more important at a later date.

But he couldn't think this way. These were two men, his age, who'd gone through the same rigors he had as a young officer, who'd been trained to work in space. They'd been to the moon even, on the last mission to do so! Not even O'Neill could say he'd been to the MOON, the old fashioned way!

Carter watched him fiddle with the communication crystal. She knew he was running the ramifications through his mind, of contacting the Asgard for two men's lives. She was confident of the conclusion the General would reach. He didn't know these men, but they were fellow Americans, fellow officers. To not help them would be the same as leaving a team mate behind, and she knew he'd never do that. She waited.

He looked up into her blue eyes, then shrugged. "Oh, for crying out loud.." and pressed the button. Nothing seemed to happen, but that didn't surprise them. They knew Asgard technology was way beyond their own. The signal had been sent.

The two astronauts kicked back in their chairs where they could continue to watch the instrument panels. They weren't quite sure why they were doing it, it wouldn't change the outcome.

The 2IC saw something move out the corner of his eye. Before he even had a chance to yelp in alarm, he and his companion vanished in a brilliant flash of light, and found themselves aboard a large, sleek spacecraft.

"WHAT THE F...!" the Mission Commander stopped himself. This was it, this is the afterlife. Columns, brilliantly polished marble-like floors, carefully disguised instrument panels, designed for both function and aesthetics. He had the feeling he wasn't in Kansas, or Endeavour, any more.

As he and his 2IC reeled for a few seconds, catching their bearings, Thor watched from his command console, with what passed for a smile on his face. He knew they'd turn and discover his presence any second now. He liked Humans, if O'Neill, Carter and Jackson were any example. These two also were military officers for their country they called the United States of America. The insignia indicated one was US Air Force, as were O'Neill and Carter, and one was US Army.

The taller of the two finally turned in Thor's direction.

"J..." he blurted, then stopped as he noticed Thor and looked into the deep brilliant eyes. Thor still had that slight smile on his face. He'd have a nice conversation with these two humans, before sending them down to O'Neill, and Stargate Command. The General would want to talk to them, after this necessity of the Asgard revealing themselves to them.

Thor motioned for them to come closer. The Mission Commander looked at his 2IC, shrugged and said, "Sure, why not? I've seen stranger things than this." His companion nodded agreement. They weren't burning up in a fiery shuttle, so anything was an improvement.

The taller human approached Thor. "Do you speak English?"

"I certainly do." came the quiet reply.

"Thanks for saving us. Nice ship you've got here," he said, and began wandering around.

Thor didn't know what to think, after the reaction he'd initially received from O'Neill and his first time aboard ship. This human was taking it all in, not alarmed or surprised in the least. Thor was expecting someone to be borderline hysterical.

"Sir, you seem to have me at a disadvantage. You walk around and observe my ship as though you've been on board a ship like this before."

The two looked and laughed at one another, an inside joke.

He turned to Thor again. "I've had some experience in pretty bizarre things going on in my life before. I thought this was a repeat until I saw you there."

"Were you expecting someone else, then? A Goa'uld? A Tok'ra?" Thor thought maybe someone outside the SGC may have had their own covert program going with some races of the Galaxy.

"I doubt it would hurt anything to explain to YOU," he said. "Allow me to introduce myself and my friend here. I'm Major Anthony Nelson, and this is Major Roger Healey."

They talked in comfortable surroundings for many hours, in one of Thor's inner chambers. He offered them food and drink, and provided soft cushions for their human forms to rest and relax on, after such an ordeal. Major Nelson fascinated him, as O'Neill did. He was so different from O'Neill in many ways, not as high-strung or stern, but it was obvious he was in command of their two-man team. Major Healey defered to him, but in a friendly way. Thor could tell they were not only fellow astronauts on a mission, but close friends too.

The call Thor was expecting finally came.

O'Neill's voice came over the comm. "Thor, buddy? Any word? The shuttle burned up over two hours ago. I didn't want to seem to rush you, but..."

"They are indeed on board my vessel, O'Neill. We have been discussing some fascinating things about your two astronauts and the lives they've led since a most unusual space mission, to your Moon, many years ago."

Silence. Not quite what O'Neill was expecting to hear. "Are they, um... all right? You didn't freak them when you beamed them up?"

Thor couldn't hide the smile in his voice. "They were quite calm about the ordeal, actually, and now I can understand why. Perhaps they can explain it to you."

And before O'Neill could say "Boo" he was in the room with Thor, Nelson and Healey.

The two snapped to attention at the presence of a USAF General. "Sir!" they both barked smartly.

O'Neill looked at them for a few moments. The taller of the two, Nelson, Air Force. Healey, Army. Astronauts. Pilots. So they had much common ground. They at least weren't unfamiliar with space. And although they remained stiffly at attention, O'Neill noted a sparkle in their eyes, almost of amusement, not terror like he'd expect. What have these two been up to? NID? Area 51? Thor said something interesting had happened to them on their mission to and from the Moon.

He couldn't wait to find out.

"Gentlemen, at ease, at ease. I'm not a big one on the whole attention thing, we're among friends here," he smiled, indicating Thor. "Friend." They didn't seem too surprised about someone just popping in from seemingly nowhere. He wanted to know why.

"So, you've given the poop to Thor, now it's my turn. Why is this not freaking you gentlemen out, like it would most people? I know the first time he pulled the 'Beam me up, Scotty' routine on me, I didn't know if I was coming or going!"

Major Nelson smiled at that, and began to explain what had been going on in his life for the last several years. In great detail.

Again, a couple hours later, and many questions later, O'Neill sat back on his own cushion, stunned. He and Thor looked at one another.

"Ancient technology is all I can think, Thor, how else could this young lady do what Nelson is saying?"

"That is what I thought too. She was quite long-lived, after all, and..."

"IS" Nelson sternly corrected. "She IS long-lived. She's out there somewhere, she's missing. She's been gone for months." He couldn't disguise the pain and sadness in his voice. It was quite obvious he loved this woman.

O'Neill's voice lightened up. "I understand, Major. And trust me, there's a realm of possibilities on where she could be. We just want to determine how she did these things you told us, you make it sound like it was magic or something. Let me tell you, it's not. Many eons ago, a race we call the Ancients lived throughout this galaxy, and had some technology that to us Humans looks pretty darned magical. I'm still not used to it all myself. Seeing as she was from the middle east, she may've come upon some of it that the Goa'uld left behind, almost 5,000 years ago. One device they had is called a sarcophagus by us, that can be used to heal and prolong life."

Tony couldn't believe what he was hearing. He began to blush, from the neck up. All these years, and he thought it was some type of super-natural occurrance, unexplained by science. And within hours, this man was telling him, Naw, it was advanced technology, that's all. He looked over at Roger, who had been uncharacteristically quiet the whole time.

"Roger? You okay?"

"You mean, you and I believed... for all those years...and here we're supposed to be logical, analytical, scientists?" Healey was starting to blush. Well, what could he think? It LOOKED like what anyone would call magic!

Now the two felt queasy. Not from their ordeal of the day, but from the shattering of a false belief they'd held for years. All it was was technology! But that was irrelevant. Tony loved Jeannie, and Jeannie was missing somewhere.

He stood up. "General, Commander Thor, with all due respect, what is going to happen to Major Healey and me now? Does NASA even know we're still alive? There's no way they can think we safely ejected or something. And I'm not too sure Commander Thor would like us to tell them, Oh, we got beamed aboard his shiny spaceship!"

O'Neill and Healey rose as well. It was time to go back. "Nelson, Healey, your lives just took a very interesting turn. Very interesting. When we get back, I'll notify the President and the necessary personnel, that you two are indeed alive and well. They can spin a tale to the media. Those new command modules they adopted after Challenger perhaps. They are aware of Thor and his people. But needless to say, from now on, all you learn is beyond top secret."

"That shouldn't be a problem, we both have highest security clearance."

O'Neill echoed to them something he'd said many years ago. "Not this high."

After they bade farewell to Thor, in all courtesy for his kindess and fast response, he beamed them back to the conference room at the SGC. He liked the two. Resilient, determined, Nelson was. Healey seemed to be a bit of a clown, defering to Nelson as he did, but he'd not be an astronaut, Major and belong to the Army Corps of Engineers if he was stupid. Thor suspected he was closer to O'Neill in many ways than Nelson, in that he liked to "play dumb" as O'Neill called it. These two men had just left one life and entered a totally new one.

The conference room was occupied when they beamed in abruptly. Daniel Jackson, Teal'c and Colonel Carter were there, discussing some tablets that had been brought back from their last off-world mission. They suspected Thor would send the men back to this room, and decided to wait.

The three observed the two newcomers. The men were dressed in standard-issue orange coveralls, comfortable and utilitarian for on-board life on a shuttle. One taller than the other, brunette, blue-eyed, the shorter man with lighter hair and greenish-brown eyes. They quickly turned to get their bearings of the conference room, and relaxed. Ah, typical military conference room. American flag. Water cooler. Familiar ground, not alien at all. Tony's eyes swung toward the picture window, and he froze. He saw the Stargate.

The SG team watched the two men, to catch their reactions. Nelson was fascinated. He was looking at the ring, the glyphs, the chevrons. It looked both ancient and alien at the same time.

"General?" he asked curiously.

"Sit down, gentlemen, we have a lot to share with you now. I'll show you around the SGC, that's Stargate Command, soon. AFTER I call the President, to let him know what's going on."

He remained standing. "Let me introduce you all. This is Major Anthony Nelson, Mission Commander, and this is Major Roger Healey, 2IC. Both experienced in space travel, even having been to the Moon."

He indicated the SG Team. "Dr Daniel Jackson, linguist, archeologist and general nuisance. Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, interim commander of SG-1," and the two officers saluted her. She returned their salute, a gentle smile on her face to assure them they had no need to worry. "And this is Teal'c, our resident alien, a man who joined us to fight against the Goa'uld, and free his people. He is Jaffa, a race related to Humankind." Teal'c nodded his head to them respectively, but remained quiet.

This was too exciting. Stargate Command? On Earth? In AMERICA? An alien race, related to Humans? Tony remembered what it had been like when he and Jeannie had found one another, all those years ago, and the feeling now was similar. Shattering his paradigm, it was. And he thought he had high security clearance! How long had this been going on?

The debriefing continued for hours, Tony and Roger eagerly taking in the information. To think earlier that day, they'd been ready to concede and face their deaths with dignity, and now they were snuggled in a mountain in Colorado in the good ol' US of A, learning what had been going on outside their little blue-green world.

Learning about the technology, the languages, the races of people, many of whom descended from Humans kidnapped into slavery. That alone was enough to convince Roger and Tony they wanted to be a part of this. They COULD be a part of this! They were USAF and US Army, after all. The General would be well aware of their qualifications. Plus they had knowledge of Jeannie and what she'd seemed to be doing for so many years.

Jeannie. His throat tightened when he thought of her. Once they got this initial shocking revelation over, he'd get down to the business of locating her, hopefully with the help of SG-1 and O'Neill.

Daniel finally called for a break. "I know you military types face survivalist training and going days without food, but I don't. I'm starving. Let's break for the day. My brain's telling me it's time to shut down."

Carter laughed. He was right. She'd been fascinated hearing about this woman they knew, and about what sounded like Ancient technology she may've acquired in Egypt thousands of years ago. She was itching to get her hands on it, if it could do the "magic" these two claimed it did. They never suspected it could be a ring, a diadem, something on her neck that she could be using.

As they all began to file out of the conference room, Roger fell behind a little, to walk alongside Sam.

"Colonel." he said companionably, with a little sparkle in his eyes.

She knew it, he was a rascal. All this happening in their single day, and he was flirting with her. She couldn't mind, though, she had to admit. To go through all this, and still have the audacity to flirt was a good sign. He and Nelson had bent with the situation, hadn't freaked out and come undone. Had handled it all as good, strong officers should. Accepted it, and were ready to move on to the task of finding this woman and the technology she'd been using.

"Major," she replied with a small smile.

"So, what does one do for fun in Colorado Springs?" he asked.

She couldn't help laughing. "Major! You just came close to a blazing re-entry in an out-of-control craft, got beamed aboard an alien spacecraft, learned there's a top-secret program in the US in which we travel to other planets, and you're being a flirt?"

He gave her his charming smile. "Colonel, after the years Tony and I have had with Jeannie, and to learn it was all a show with fancy gadgets, not much surprises him or me any more. Go with the flow, I say. I'm alive, I'm in America, I'm walking with a lovely and," he made a point of looking, "single woman."

"Who happens to outrank you."

"A mere step in rank. A pittance. I'm an astronaut," and he winked, because he knew he couldn't use THAT line any more, not here! And it was a favorite too, very rarely failed to intrigue a woman.

"That you are. Or were. We'll see what the President says. It's up to him now. General O'Neill has already expressed an interest in you two joining the SGC in some capacity. Perhaps as liaison with NASA and other top-secret governmental agencies. Now that you've already been aboard Thor's ship, we really can't just send you back to Cocoa Beach and say, Hey, been fun guys, see ya."

"No, I guess you couldn't, could you? But I know Tony's first priority, once the General gets the all-clear, is to work on finding Jeannie." He leaned close to her ear, "He loves her, you know."

She went silent at that for a little bit. "I don't think that will be a problem. Anything to help us get more technology is always a priority for the President, any potential defense against the Goa'uld."

They'd reached the cafeteria. And it was packed.

Daniel turned to them. "Sam, let's go out somewhere, show the two space cowboys here the town."

"Daniel, I wish we could. But they've really got to get checked out in the infirmary, after all they've been through. Then they need rest. I'm sure it's been a trying day for them both."

Tony turned around at this, wondering if they were going to continue into the cafeteria or stand and jaw. He motioned for them to move away from the entrance they were blocking.

"Colonel, with all due respect, today wasn't really all that stressful. No more than any spaceflight. In fact, we were quite fine on Endeavour. Had accepted our fate, we were talking and thinking about lighting a couple of cigars. You guys go off world on an almost daily basis, do you not, then come home, go out to a bar maybe to end the day?"

She had to smile at that. "Yes, but we're trained for this, and..."

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but so are we. Astronauts get probably the most rigorous training of any profession on Earth."

Which Sam knew, of course, having pursued such a path before learning of the Stargate. He made his point.

"Very well, Major, but one requirement we do have is a post-mission checkup. Takes less than an hour. You'll go through that. The infirmary's had a chance to get your medical files sent over by now, shouldn't take too long."

So they reported, as ordered, and the doctor reported to Carter.

"Healthy as horses, both of them, not that I wouldn't expect it, being astronauts. Healthier than most here in the SGC. We should adopt a similar program, the way we go off-world so much."

She waved her thanks to the doctor and hustled the men out of there. "He's always going on about that, even though most here went through Special Ops training, or equivalent. We're the first line of defense if the Goa'uld manage to break through the Gate, so we have to stay in peak shape ourselves."

Roger didn't go so far as to comment on HER shape, he was a rascal but not stupid, but he smiled his appreciation. She understood. He wasn't so flagrant in his overtures as to be insubordinate, so she said nothing. She felt rather flattered, actually, but he wasn't her type. She didn't know what it was, maybe because he didn't seem that smart. She liked smart.

On the other hand, how could he be an astronaut? A stupid astronaut? She'd wait and see. Look over his file. Get an idea of his specialty. Being in the Army Corps of Engineers, as his insignia designated, he probably knew math quite well, engineering, electronics.

As they passed O'Neill's office, she motioned for them to continue on, that she'd meet up with them. She poked her head in the door. "General, we were about to take the Majors out for a post-trauma drink, would you like to join us? Daniel, Teal'c and they are already heading for the surface."

"A drink? After all they've been through?" He was surprised, and started liking these two more. They weren't the soft officer college-boy types he thought they were. All this, and they're going out with Daniel and T.

Sam smiled her understanding. "That's what I thought too, but Major Nelson pointed out an astronaut's training is very rigorous, moreso than our own, and it was really no big deal. They've already been checked out in a post-mission exam, passed just fine Doc said."

He thought a moment, then stood. "Yeah, sounds good. This paperwork can wait one more day. I've got to talk to them more any way, before tomorrow. The President called back, finally got out of that meeting, told me what he wants us to do with these guys."

She raised her eyebrows in curiosity, but he just smiled, "You'll hear."

They were at a table in a noisy, boisterous bar, not too rowdy or seedy. The kind of crowd that likes to come by after a 9-to-5 day, and kick back with their buddies before heading home.

"He WHAT?" Tony exclaimed, not believing their good fortune.

"Wants you both to start training, to eventually join an SG team. We're always seeking qualified people, who've already had the training, the security clearance, a strong academic background, great health, and you two have that in spades. Won't take much for you two to catch up on procedure, how to handle yourselves off-world."

He frowned a moment, "BUT, that's contingent first on finding your lady friend, and all that technology she seems to know about, and to use."

"General, I don't know how to thank you, thank the President! That's what I want to do too!"

"Then it's settled. SG-1 is on their week off rotation, so they can work with you, let you know what you'll need. When you're ready, you will take your first trip through the Gate," and he winked at his team, trying to make the two Majors nervous.

Roger had to smile, looked at Tony. "With respect, sir, probably not as rocky as a re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, going a few thousand miles per hour."

"You're right. I finally did that, and it wasn't in a 'primitive' space capsule or shuttle like we use."

"PRIMITIVE?" they both exclaimed, quite offended. They knew the spacecraft they flew intimately.

All four laughed. "Major, you must remember, we've been in the likes of Thor's vessel, that has hyperspace drive, many times the speed of light. I know it might wound your American pride, but in many ways, we really are primitive."

"From what you've said of the Goa'uld, they just use others' things, they don't develop much themselves? Well, we at least got into space on our OWN, didn't we?"

The four looked at each other, like Nelson and Healey had passed an unwritten test. O'Neill knew he liked these guys now. They already hated the Goa'uld.

Teal'c nodded assent. "You are correct, Major Nelson. The Goa'uld use technologies they've found or stolen, especially the technology of the Ancients. For the Tau'ri to have developed on their own is an affront to the Goa'uld."

Nelson snorted. "Good. Their stealing Humans to make into slaves is an affront to me."

"And to me," Roger said, no longer maintaining that casual attitude. His demeanor changed dramatically at the thought of Humans being enslaved in such a way, to serve false gods. Carter was surprised at his vehemence. She'd already written him off as being a buffoon, a clown, but now she looked at him with a new respect. Good, his motivation for doing this is there, not just for finding their lost friend.

O'Neill watched them all as the evening went on, chatting and drinking, getting to know one another. Daniel and Teal'c, Healey and Nelson, and Carter as their commander. They fell into a comfortable routine, after the long hours of debriefing earlier in the day. These two had been through so much in just a 24 hour period, and were ready to embark on the next chapters of their lives as members of the SGC.


	3. 31 JUL 2004

31 JUL 2004 Where's Jeannie? 

Major Nelson and Major Healey settled quickly into their temporary quarters at the SGC. They were to be trained to eventually join an SG team, but for now, their main focus, along with SG-1 and General O'Neill, was to locate their friend Jeannie, and the Ancient technology she seemed to know about.

He'd told Colonel Carter everything he could think of about Jeannie, her accoutrements, jewelry, hairpiece, bottle, anything that might have been way more than it seemed. Carter jotted it all down. He'd described to her, in great detail, what it all looked like, how she used it.

She looked over the list. "None of this sounds immediately familiar to me, but perhaps it will to someone else. I can contact the Tok'ra, see if anyone there recognizes it. And ask Thor, if the General can contact him again. Thor's as fascinated by this woman and her devices as General O'Neill is."

"The Tok'ra, they're the ones who are technically Goa'uld, but in a type of resistance?"

"Yes, they got the name, which means 'against Ra,' because he was the first Goa'uld system lord they fought against. They've since made it their goal to bring down all the system lords and those who'd take their places. My father, General Jacob Carter, became a Tok'ra himself. He was dying, and they needed a new host desperately for one of their oldest and wisest people, Selmak. The two blended, and Selmak healed my father. They've been working covertly with the Tok'ra ever since."

"So they're not all bad guys, then, these Tok'ra are with us."

"Yes, somewhat. They have their own agendas, they are very few in number. Their tactics are more covert, more subtle, more long term than we Humans usually use. General O'Neill's not too sure he trusts them completely, with the exception of my father. But if they can provide us any lead, any starting point at all in finding Jeannie, that'll be a big step. Because right now, we don't have any idea where to begin looking."

She went to her locked cabinet, and brought out the device her father had told her to use whenever she needed to contact him. She sent the message, and returned the device. It could be minutes, hours or days, she never knew. He might be off on a covert op; she didn't always know what was going on with him, as he didn't always know with her. But they saw each other on a fairly regular basis, at least twice a month, when he could 'gate to Earth for a short time.

So the waiting game had started. Tony had decided to take refuge in his cramped quarters, and all he felt like doing now was mope. He played it all over and over in his head.

He was startled to hear a knock at the door. "Come."

Roger Healey came in, in his usual ebullient manner. "Tony, why're you hanging about in here?"

"I asked Colonel Carter if we could break for the rest of the day, all this waiting, and her and Dr. Jackson and Teal'c throwing information at me, I was just overwhelmed."

Healey sat down on the bed beside his best friend. "Yeah, I know what you mean. It's all so amazing, I'm still freaked out. All these years, this going on, and us none the wiser. And we thought we had a time keeping Jeannie secret!" He regretted mentioning her the second he did. That did it.

Tony hung his head down again. "Roger, I don't know how long I can take this. She's been gone for months. No word. No ransom note. No high mucky-muck 'haaji' or whatever the hell used to keep her in line showing up to blast me. Whatever this technology was that she used, they must have taken it from her. I can't see her, after all these years, just up and leaving during a picnic."

Roger put his arm around Tony's shoulder, ducked his head down to face his friend's. "Tony, we're going to find her. With the help of these guys, all the technology they have, their knowledge, we'll find her. I know we will." He said it with such conviction, that Tony turned to his friend and smiled a sad smile.

"Do you honestly think that? Or just saying it?"

"I honestly know that. These guys are awesome, Dr. Jackson has some information about ancient civilizations, both Earth and other planets, that maybe we can research into that. Jeannie has to have come from somewhere. Remember that time we worked so hard to find out her birthday was April 1st? All the research, the footwork into her past?"

Tony smiled at that. "Man, that was like pulling teeth, back then, with the computers and record systems that we had. We had access to the best of the best back then, which now looks like stone knives and bear skins compared to what SGC has. If we could find what we did then, we'll surely find more now!"

Roger could see the determination come back in his friend's face. He remembered that time, it took many days to locate Jeannie's birthday. It was so very important to her to know, to feel a connection with other people who celebrated their birth anniversary once a year. Tony, with his computer expertise, had delved into records most wouldn't have thought of. He'd kept up on computer technology over the years, and with Dr. Jackson's help, might be able to research even more.

"Roger, you're brilliant."

"I am?"

"Yes, we can get that data downloaded here. It might be years old, but there might be something, some datum, that could give Dr. Jackson and me a starting point. I kept it all on my machine at home, all these years. It was a brilliant bit of detective work, back in the day, if I do say so myself."

With renewed excitement at having something tangible to do to locate her, the two men headed for Dr. Jackson's lab.

31 JUL 2004 The Birthday

Daniel Jackson, with Major Nelson hovering over his shoulder, looked at the archived information.

"And you did this research all by yourself? Into her past? Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, Sumer?" he couldn't disguise the admiration in his voice. "With the computers, if that's what you could call them, of that decade? Amazing."

Tony blushed a little. "That's my specialty, electronics. Especially computers. They were dinosaurs, back then, weren't they? But she so desperately wanted to know her birthdate. I used a variety of tools, checking astronomical information, cultural data, tax records, any census data I could find. Having the clearance I had through NASA, I could get into a lot of information."

Daniel had to chuckle. "I'm glad you didn't delve TOO deeply, if you'd run across anything about Dr. Langford and the Stargate, you may've stumbled into places you didn't belong. I guess they did a great job sealing all the data in the 40's."

Tony pulled a seat up alongside Daniel. "You're the expert now, all I can do is watch and be amazed, Dr. Jackson."

Daniel smiled at that. "Okay, let's see what we've got."

For the next several hours, they pored over the data, both older information from Tony and the information Daniel already had at his disposal. Jackson pulled out some old, dusty books, tablets, anything that could tie in with a common thread.

"Look here, this part," pointing to the screen. "This group of people, this 'tribe' as it were. They started many thousands of years ago in what's now considered Basque country. Migrated over hundreds of years to Egypt via the Strait of Gibraltar, across northern Africa to Egypt. Pre-dynastic period."

He continued drawing his finger across the map of northern Africa, the middle East, western Asia and on to Europe, glancing at his notes every so often as he did so.

"Continued on to the middle east, to Catal Hulyuk and Jericho. Over many thousands of years. Now Indo European migration begins; starting in the regions around the Caspian Sea. The Aryans, the forerunners of many northern European, Indian and Persian peoples, including the Celts." The excitement in his voice couldn't be disguised.

He tapped the screen, "Nelson, do you know what this might mean? If Jeannie is descended from the original Ancients, we might be witnessing the Ancients' moving across the continents, the ones who stayed after Atlantis 'left'! Blending in with the Human population, probably remaining somewhat separate though, not wanting to lose their identity. Like the Rom, the Gypsies."

He grabbed one of his linguistics books. "The Basque! That's where it all began! They're unique in that their language has absolutely no tie with any other Earth language. They've been a mystery to linguists for years. And this might be the key, they're speaking a more modern version of Ancient dialect!"

He suddenly seemed downcast. "This new revelation into the Basque, and I can't tell the world." His love of culture, of archeology, of linguistics battled with the need to maintain the security required in the SGC. He'd hang on to this information, and maybe someday he could tell his fellow scientists. Some day.

In the meantime, they had something to start with. Jackson got Jeannie's own data, where and when she was born. Baghdad. Well, not much chance of being able to go there right now. He'd have to rely on Nelson's information he'd gathered, when there wasn't strife between the two countries, and what he could get off the internet, and his own records.

He plotted out on the computer the trail the people seemed to have taken. It all made sense. Blend in with the Human population, but not TOO much. Keep separate somewhat. Interact with the Humans, but keep within the clan. It was not unheard of in Human history, after all.

The people seemed to get along all right with their neighbors, living their lives, making babies, continuing to move, finally ending up in Britain, Ireland and northern Europe. That must be where O'Neill, Sheppard and others got their Ancient genes. Some ancestor digressing from the tribe, or maybe finding likely mates to strengthen the gene pool. Over the course of thousands of years, they'd need the additional genes to keep their numbers from weakening.

If O'Neill was any example, and Sheppard, the Ancients' descendants took great care on who they mated with, outside their tribe, their clan. Strong, intelligent Humans would not sully their heritage. So the Ancients, in their own way, were still on Earth. Some had a high percentage of the genes, like Jeannie apparently, and some had a diluted form, like O'Neill.

"I can't wait to tell Jack about this!" Daniel crowed. He sent the map he'd traced to Jack's email, then stood, stretched, headed for the door. Tony got up to follow him.

"How come?"

"General O'Neill has the Ancient gene. He and others with it can operate Ancient technology, just by thinking it!"

"You're kidding! Is that what Jeannie's been doing, then, she just needs to be touching it, use her mind?"

"Yep," he said as they hustled to the General's office.

Daniel burst in, "Jack! You're not going to believe this!"

O'Neill looked up from the eternal paperwork he was wishing he could ignore. "What's up?"

"Check your email, I just sent you a map of what appears to be the path the Ancients' descendants took, after Atlantis was gone."

"You're kidding!" He switched to his email, opened the document, and saw what Daniel had done. A clear migration, circumnavigating the Mediterranean Sea, to end up in northern Europe. Britain. Ireland. Where O'Neill's own ancestors originated.

"So this is how it happened, how I got the gene?" He loved learning of his heritage, as many Americans did. He was especially proud of his Irish ancestry, and this just added a very interesting bit to his past.

"It looks that way. Jeannie and her people seem to be the most directly descended. They've probably maintained oral tradition for thousands of years, rules to live by in their society, what they can and cannot do with us common Humans." He paused dramatically. "And, from what Tony here says, it sounds like they pass down the tools, the technology, left from the original Ancients. Closely guarded and kept secret from prying outsiders' eyes."

Tony spoke up after the archeologist calmed down a bit. "Jeannie gave me the impression that her family was somewhat important. Perhaps it was her family's task to keep some of these ancient artifacts, and she got hold of them? Took off? Could've been just before she met me."

Daniel summed it up for the General. "Okay, then we know where her people came from. She's a direct descendant of the Ancients. They seem to have many Ancient devices that they pass from generation to generation, some families being deemed worthy of being keepers of same. She was either given some tools, maybe after reaching the age of maturity, or she stole them and left her people."

Tony shook his head. "I can't see Jeannie stealing them, I really can't. She may not have told me a lot about this, but she's a good, honest, sweet person. I suspect she got them, as was her right, and decided to venture out into the world. This persona of being a djinn, a genie, well... she may've adopted that, from the Sumerian culture she grew up in. Use it as a front. I've had a few run-ins with her 'people,' usually older guys checking up on her."

He had to smile at that. Haaji. He was a pip. Tony now realized he may've been an older brother, a cousin, checking on Jeannie, to be sure she was all right in this modern man's world. Nobody had QUITE forced her to return to her people, but he could sense that she wasn't in his life with their blessings. They probably figured she'd get tired of him eventually and return to them. They didn't anticipate her falling in love with him.

O'Neill asked, "Now that we have this data, though, what good does it do us? Will it help any in finding her? We can't really go to Baghdad right now and look her up in the phonebook."

Jackson sighed. "I don't really know. We know a bit more than we did before, but you're right, where's the starting point?"

He was interrupted by the alarms from the Gate room. Incoming wormhole.

O'Neill's intercom clicked on. "General, off-world activation!" Walter paused a moment, looking at the display. "Identity verified. It's General Carter, sir."

"Well, let's let him in." They went to the control room to greet Jacob.

Walter opened the iris so the wormhole could establish, and Jacob Carter came through. Jack waved to him from the control room.

"Jacob, always good to see you. We've got a little bit of a mystery here. Come join us in the conference room."

31 JUL 2004 Sam's Lab

O'Neill, Carter, Nelson, Healey and SG-1 had been in the conference room for a couple hours, going over the data Daniel and Tony had merged together about the Ancients' descendants on Earth.

"General O'Neill, this data your people collected may come in useful to the Tok'ra," Selmak said via Jacob. "If we do indeed manage to find this woman, and her people, we may be able to bargain for the technology, perhaps borrow it for a time so we may duplicate it."

"We thought you guys might be interested, yeah, because of the technology. It could benefit both our peoples. The question remains, though, where do we go from here?"

Daniel spoke up, "The first thing to establish is, is she even on Earth? Is there any way she could've left the planet?"

"The only way she could do that, I'm sure, is via the Stargate, and when could she have done that? With nobody the wiser?"

Tony and Roger looked at one another. "If her people knew the Gate was here, they could've easily found a way. She's done some pretty amazing things with this stuff, including gone invisible. A type of cloaking device, apparently. They could've come in with anyone, if they were cloaked." Tony told them.

"And she's been missing for how long?" Selmak asked.

"Four months, fifteen days, to be exact."

Jacob turned to O'Neill, now in control of the talking. "Jack, if we could go over all the planets everyone's been to since that time, we might be able to see if she and someone holding her got through the Gate without anyone's knowledge."

His daughter spoke up, "Dad, that's a great idea! We can check the records for the data of the people going through and rematerializing at the other end. We don't tell the Gate 'This mass is going through the gate' but there IS a record of the mass/energy conversion, from start to finish. If, for example, four people went through, but the record shows a mass/energy conversion higher than it should be, that would indicate extra people going through unseen."

Her father beamed at her, "That sounds perfect, Sam. How long will it take to look? Don't you have quite a few SG teams now?"

"Yes, it'll take some time. I'll have Sgt. Davis upload the relevant data to my lab, and Major Healey and I can go over it." She smiled at Roger, "Major Nelson did his footwork, now it's time you do some"

He smiled, "Yes, ma'am!" This should be fun, getting to work with Colonel Carter.

The data comparisons did take time. Tedious time. Check which team went through, how many people? What was their combined mass? Then compare that to the mass/energy conversion data. One team at a time, over four months' worth.

By the time Sam stretched and glanced at the clock, four hours had passed.

"Major! I didn't realize we'd been doing this so long!"

He looked up from his own monitor. They'd divided the data up, so they could go twice as fast. He watched her stretch a second, and looked at the clock too.

"Wow, time flies, you know!" He got up to stretch too. Felt good to move his muscles, he'd been cramped over the keyboard and mouse so long.

"Permission to break for the evening, ma'am?" he asked, with that rascal smile on his face.

"You make me sound like a taskmaster," she laughed. "I don't ever ask my people to do anything I wouldn't do, you know."

He laughed, "I know."

"We can continue tomorrow, first thing, 0800." She got up to leave. "You and Major Nelson are settled into your temporary quarters?"

"Yes, ma'am, temporary until we can get to Cocoa Beach, wrap things up with NASA, get our personal stuff relocated to lovely Colorado Springs. It'll be quite a switch in climates! But it's gorgeous around here, to go from flat hot Florida to mountainous cool Colorado!"

She smiled. "Yes, we do have quite a variety in our country, don't we? One of the many things that makes it so beautiful."

"Speaking of beautiful, I'm sure it's a beautiful sunset up there. I think I'm going to go for some fresh air, after we wrap up here."

Sam began shutting her computer down, as did Roger. "That sounds like a great idea, actually, I could use some air too. Let me see if anyone else wants to join us, I'll meet you at the elevator in ten minutes."

She went around the floor, inviting Daniel, Teal'c, Tony, her father and O'Neill on their little sojourn to the surface. They all agreed it was a wonderful idea, and everyone met at the elevator.

"Nice little party we've got starting here," Jacob said, smiling at his daughter. He covertly watched Healey, as Roger stood almost protectingly near his daughter. He'd had a chance to observe the two newcomers during the conference hours ago, before Sammy and this man went to research the Gate data.

He liked Nelson. Intelligent, enthusiastic, a quick learner.

Healey, though... he was someone to watch. He was such a dichotomy, one second sounding like a playful, mouthy teenager (not quite insubordinate), the next second saying something intelligent and insightful, making the others go "OHHH, we never thought of that!" It rather reminded him of Jack.

Roger seemed to have found Sam's funny bone, because he'd cracked her up a couple times in the conference room with his subtle comments. Jacob liked that at least. It was joy personified to see his girl in such spirits, working on a task, with her friends, solving a puzzle. This was meat and potatoes to her, and Healey seemed to know it. The guy was good at reading people, at least.

He obviously likes her, but is being cautious, her being of higher rank than he. Selmak thought to Jacob. I think I like him. But let us see what the evening brings.

I haven't written him off... yet... but if he gets officially onto an SG team, nothing can happen any way, they'll both be in the same command. Jacob reminded his symbiont.

They all filed into the elevator for the long trip up, laughing, talking amongst themselves. Tony and Roger felt completely at home. They'd accepted them early on, probably due to the almost-disaster with the Endeavour, and the abrupt way they'd come to the SGC. They weren't government intruders, they were fellow officers, who now wanted to help in the defense of Earth, against the Goa'uld. They were all in accord on that.

31 JUL 2004 There's Something About Roger

Roger was right, it was a glorious sunset. The air was fresh and breezy, and they all took deep breaths after being in the main body of the SGC for the entire day. They each separated into little groups, talking, strolling casually, the guards at the gate keeping a discrete eye on them, as was their duty. They all walked in the same general direction, not too far apart.

Roger found himself near Sam. "Colonel."

"Major, you had a wonderful idea. This is a great way to end the day! It's gorgeous out!" The setting sun beamed into her blue eyes, lighting them.

Roger couldn't help but gaze into the blue pools for a moment, then shook himself from their magic. Careful, old boy, don't want to be too obvious. Colonel. Major.

They continued to walk together, side by side, occassionally glancing at the others enjoying this little sabbatical. Teal'c and Daniel were walking, discussing something, if Daniel's hand gestures were any indicator. Tony and Jacob were talking, with O'Neill listening in. Probably asking the older man about the Tok'ra, what it felt like to have a symbiont, knowing Tony. He was perpetually curious, wanted to know everything going on around him. Not a bad trait to have, after all. Roger had other things on his mind, though.

He was uncharacteristically quiet. Sam had got to know him and Tony pretty well, since they'd joined the SGC a couple weeks before, after that disastrous event. He usually had something to say.

"So quiet, Major. I didn't know you had it in you."

He smiled. "I don't always run off at the mouth, you know. Seems like it, doesn't it?" He looked around, "I was thinking about how beautiful it is, here in the Rockies."

"Rocky Mountain high, eh?"

He scowled, "Don't tempt me, I might break into song." He cleared his throat, like he was about to start singing.

"Oh, no, that's okay. We hear that song enough here in Colorado!" she laughed. Her laughter drew her father's attention, and she saw his head turn toward her. She smiled in response, and he smiled back, assured all was okay with his daughter.

He stopped and gazed at the wonder of Colorado, the hills, mountains, trees, an eagle off in the distance. Now all I need is a hawk, he thought. It was so different from flat, boring Florida. Sure, he'd lived there for years and years, had got used to the heat, humidity, lightning, hurricanes. But this was home for him, not Colorado, but the mountains, this land, the geology of it.

She watched him look at his surroundings with such intensity. She followed his gaze around. "What are you looking at?"

"Oh, just the general area. You'd look up to the skies, being an astrophysicist. I'm a geologist by training, and I've not seen the mountains in too long. Just taking it all in, becoming friends with the mountains again."

She was shocked. A geologist? Healey? A scientist? She hadn't had a chance to look thoroughly through his file as yet, it was pretty extensive. Most officers had gone to college, and had a specific major. Her's had been Astrophysics, Tony's apparently electronics and mathematics, which went on to computers.

"You? A geologist?" she couldn't hide her incredulous voice.

He was gratified at her response. He knew most people considered him pretty silly, not really serious about too much. When it came to being an astronaut, however, he was deadly serious. And when it came to geology, the land, the mountains, he was enraptured, this was the core of what he loved.

"I was deemed 'Planetary Specialist' on the last moon trip. There to study the lay of the land, the rockfalls, meteor impacts, collect rocks. Study what passes for 'erosion' on the Moon. In addition to geology, of our own planet, I've studied our other planets too."

Now they were delving more into her area of expertise. She'd never imagined he was a planetary specialist, a geologist. She had all sorts of things about our own solar system she wanted to talk to him about. She saw him in a whole new light. He WAS intelligent, just as she suspected. He played it down a lot, like she knew O'Neill did. His face was lit up, talking about HIS subject now, as she knew she got excited when she began talking science with someone who understood.

He began pointing things out to her, of the land, their formations, how the Rockies formed thousands of years ago. "The Rockies are actually quite young, in geological terms. Newer mountains like these, the Olympics in Washington, the Himalayas, they're young chains, they haven't been eroded by rain, wind, time. Some parts of the Appalachians, on the other hand, are the oldest mountains on Earth. Some exposed areas are over a billion years old!"

His excitement was infectious as he told her this. He loved having such an attentive audience, she was genuinely fascinated about learning their surroundings, where she'd worked so long. She enjoyed watching him like this. This was a transformed Roger Healey. He was in his element.

He wasn't aware of it, but Sam was. As he continued his lecture, as it sounded now, the others had slowly gathered around them, listening, fascinated. Tony smiled. He knew how Roger had ached to visit the mountains again, after their ill-fated Endeavour mission. He'd got his wish, but oh, in what a way! Now he was in his environment, in the mountains. Tony let him go on, letting the others realize there was more to Roger Healey than being silly.

As he was going on about intrusions, igneous rock, folding, he realized how he was sounding. Everyone was listening to him. He stopped abruptly, and blushed.

Selmak smiled through Jacob. "Major, please continue, this is fascinating. I didn't know so much about Jacob's world like this."

"Oh, well, I get started, can't shut up, when I talk about geology. Sorry."

O'Neill stepped up, "No need to apologize, Healey. I love this land too, maybe you can join me fishing some day at my cabin, nestled on a little pond in the mountains, right over yonder." And he pointed toward where his cabin was, about ten miles away.

Roger didn't realize how he'd endeared himself to O'Neill. Jack couldn't dislike a man who loved the land like this.

Jacob was in control again. "Did I hear you say you're not only a geologist, but a planetary specialist? You've studied the other planets of our system?"

"Yes, sir, I went on to get my PhD in planetary studies."

"The Tok'ra could use such knowledge when they locate new worlds, to set up base camps, evade the Goa'uld. Perhaps we can arrange for you to join us on some planetary surveys some day. Pending approval from General O'Neill, of course."

"I'd be happy to do that, sir, I'm anxious to get through the Gate and step foot on another world! After all I've learned about what we do at the SGC, the Moon doesn't seem to cut it as a new world."

Jack had to speak up. "Now, don't sell yourself short, Major, a trip to the Moon is nothing to sneeze at."

"I guess so, General." He paused a moment. "Any idea when Tony and I are going to step through the Gate, sir?"

"Soon, Major, soon."

They all began sauntering back to the elevator, not in too much of a hurry. It was 1800 hours. Daniel walked up to Sam, Roger and Tony.

"You guys wanna go for a drink?"

Sam looked toward Jacob, seeing if he wanted to join them. He walked back to them. "I can't, kitten, I'm going to go over the data again, that Daniel and Tony put together, see if Selmak might recognize something relevant, anything that might be a clue to where to begin. Jack and I are going to the cafeteria for dinner, then I'm going to get started. He's finishing up the wall of paperwork in his office." Jacob had to smile at that. That was one task, as a General, he did NOT miss!

And she doesn't need Daddy hovering about while Roger's making a play for her, right? Selmak whispered to him.

Jacob stifled a laugh. After Roger's little lecture, Selmak and Jacob had both decided he was worthy of Sam, even if just for a casual thing. He had proven he was brilliant, something Jacob knew was very important to Sam. He wasn't quite sure why he played it down like he did, but he probably had his reasons.

Sam looked at her father curiously, sensing a Jacob/Selmak exchange. "Yes? Selmak?"

Selmak took over. "I was just telling your father, that you younger folks might not want the old man hanging about."

Well, "younger" compared to Selmak, at least. Roger was about O'Neill's age, about ten years older than she. Not too old. In excellent health, obviously, or he'd not be an astronaut. And smart, as she'd suspected. Why did he disguise it so? Did he think women wouldn't want an intelligent guy? That was the very first thing she required in a man. She had to be able to carry on a conversation with him. He'd proven he was as much a science geek as she is!

Not drop-dead gorgeous, but he was pleasant to look at. Always had a smile ready, his eyes sparkling often at humor most did not see.

Sam knew that look from her father, that tone. Damn him. Between Jacob and Selmak, it was hard to hide anything from them. She knew he knew that her estimation of Roger had gone up considerably.

"Are we just going to stand around and jaw, or get to going?" Daniel demanded, as he, Teal'c and Tony headed for Daniel's car.

"I'll drive myself and Major Healey, we'll meet ya there."

31 JUL 2004 Tickles

The evening ended amicably. Daniel was going to drive Tony and Teal'c back to the SGC, and offered Roger a lift.

Sam piped in, "Oh, I was going to drive Major Healey."

Daniel gave her an odd look. "Um... okay. I'm heading that way, bringing them back. It's no trouble, you know."

She glanced at Roger, then back to Daniel. She gave him a look that he understood. "I wanted to talk to him about his specialty, about our solar system. I've had a couple of ideas I've wanted to bat around, and he might be the one to ask. About Jupiter. Arthur C. Clarke posited once, that..."

Before she could go on, Daniel stopped her. "Okay, okay, I give. How you can go on like that, 24/7, Sam, is beyond me!"

She laughed, "And do you ever stop thinking about YOUR specialties? Given the slightest opportunity to discuss it with someone who understands?"

He had to admit she had a point. "Granted. Okay, you two go into your solar systemese technobabble, we're going back to base."

The three men loaded into Daniel's car and took off. Sam began wandering to the little stream that passed by the restaurant, with a paved walkway alongside it. Roger slowly followed.

They walked that way for a bit, in silence, lost in their own thoughts. Sam was wondering how she'd broach this.

"DOCTOR Healey... about those questions, about Jupiter."

"Yes, DOCTOR Carter?"

"How much do you know about Jupiter, DOCTOR Healey?"

"About as much as anyone, DOCTOR Carter."

How long was this going to go on? He smiled to himself. She's trying to separate the fact we're Colonel and Major. Right now we're a couple of eggheads talking about something that fascinates us. Maybe we can forget we're both in the military, just for the evening.

She stopped, looked him in the eyes. "I've got this idea, something Arthur C. Clarke said, about Jupiter, and..."

He looked at her. He wasn't much taller than she. Her words were going in one ear, and out the other.

"Dr. Carter... Samantha... is that really what you wanted to discuss?" He knew he was being bold, calling her by name. They weren't TECHNICALLY in the same Command, not yet. He and Tony were on detached duty, still officially assigned to NASA. This might be their only chance, before it was considered fraternization. Or maybe it wouldn't be fraternization. He was in the US Army, after all, the Corps of Engineers. She was Air Force all the way. Something to check the regs about... eventually. He had this evening on his mind.

She looked into his light greenish-brown eyes. That smile, that perpetual spark, was there, as usual. He had such joie de vie, like Tony did. They were both curious about the whole SGC, the Stargate. The look on their eyes when they'd seen their first established wormhole was memorable.

"Major... Roger... not really. Just wanted some time alone with you," she said, ducking her head a bit in shyness. "You intrigue me. You seem to go out of your way to play down being smart, and I don't get that. I've never ever done the 'dumb blonde' routine. Don't have patience for women who do. Why do you do that?"

"Oh, I don't know, habit I think. I find that if I start going on about stuff I know, in a typical crowd of people, their eyes start glazing over and I've lost them. When I'm doing my NASA duties, usually with Tony, he and I can talk that way, we have such a rapport with one another, I don't have to be someone I'm not."

"You don't have to be with me, either, I like the brilliant Roger Healey a lot more. But don't stop making me laugh."

"No danger of that happening. I'm glad I can make you laugh. Many women I've been with just didn't get my sense of humor. Not as smart as you, I guess," and he winked. He put his arm out for her to take, and she slipped her's through, snuggling up to his shoulder. She liked they were almost the same height.

They walked that way for a bit, and she stopped and yawned. "I think we might consider getting back. We've gotta be in the lab at 0800, remember?"

He sighed. "Yes, I remember. Didn't want this evening to end so soon. Guess you'd better bring me back to the SGC."

"We could go to my place, have a coffee before we do, wake up a bit. I need to get out of these work clothes any way."

So they ended up in Sam's living room, sipping espresso. She'd changed into comfortable jeans, sneakers and an old USAF sweatshirt. Very relaxed.

"Wish I'd thought to change before we left!" he said, when she emerged from her room, ready to face the rest of the evening with renewed vigor.

"Wait, I might have something, something one of the guys might've left here after a barbecue or something." She went to her laundry room, rummaged around in a hamper of clean clothes. Found a pair of shorts, and a t-shirt.

"Try these, I think they're Daniel's, they'll fit you!" She tossed them at him.

"GREAT! It'll feel great to get out of this!" He changed in the bathroom, carefully hanging his uniform up to prevent wrinkles. He looked in the mirror, checked his breath. Pinched a little toothpaste to rub on his teeth, freshen his mouth.

This is different, Roger old boy, this isn't your usual chasing-after-the-ladies routine, you enjoyed for so many years. With not nearly enough success.

He'd established something different with Samantha Carter. She was something entirely special and different from the women he used to slobber after. Secretaries, clerks, etc... not Colonels! Astrophysicists! They were just a dalliance, but this... he wasn't sure what this was going to be.

He had to get her talking.

"So, Dr. Carter, this question about Jupiter?" He sat down next to her, both turned to face one another on the couch.

"Yes, Dr. Healey. Jupiter. This theory of Clarke's..." and she started expounding on a theory of Sir Arthur C. Clarke and Jupiter, and the moons of Jupiter. This went on for a few minutes, Roger only partly listening to her. She was very animated, having someone who'd actually KNOW if her idea, her hypothesis, was valid or not. He should've been paying attention, because her hypothesis sounded fascinating, but all he could do was gaze into her blue eyes.

She paused a moment. "Roger, you're not hearing a word I'm saying, are you?"

He leaned toward her ever so slightly. "No, Samantha, I'm not. I've been looking at those gorgeous eyes of yours."

She blushed, moved in a little too. "And I've been watching that mouth of yours" she said, and brought her own mouth to his.

He kissed her very gently, delicately touching her partly opened mouth, reveling in her closeness. This was so different, a part of his mind screamed! No words could describe it.

He put his arms around her shoulders, drew her closer in, and so they continued for a time, kissing, nibbling, holding one another. It was beyond ecstasy. Just holding, kissing. Sam finally took the initiative and pulled back.

"Whew."

"Whew?" Roger asked.

"Yes, whew. You're a mystery, Roger Healey. This facade you put up, I am slowly but surely making it crumble away, right?"

He laughed, eyes sparkling, "I'll never tell, you'll have to torture the REAL Roger Healey out of me! Muwahahahahahaha" and he started tickling her, playing the villain, and she fell back, screaming with delight

"Don't! Stop! Don't! Stop!" she screamed, playing along. He kept the tickling up, and as she continued her screams, it turned to "Don't stop! Don't stop! Muwahahahahahaha!" she echoed back to him, peals of laughter coming from her still, as she collapsed back onto the couch, exhausted from her glee.

He carefully lay down beside her, both squeezed in together, propped her head up on his arm, as a pillow for her. They were very close again, flushed from their play, and he again kissed her, not so gently this time. The play had fired them up, and they were all hands, arms and lips, legs twining together.

Sam was on fire, his kisses going along her jawline, down her neck, to the curve of her shoulder and back again. She was amazed. She thought she could read people, but she'd totally misread Roger Healey from the beginning. She knew there had to be more, and now she was learning. Hit the right button, the right trigger, and he really acted like himself. She'd hit that button tonight, listening to him talk about the mountains, the scenery.

And he was enflamed for her. Showing her another aspect she'd never suspected. The passion emanating from him, the fire, the desire, it was overwhelming. She gave herself up to it, to him. He was firmly in control, something else that startled yet pleased her. He placed his free hand on her hip, ran it along the length of back to hip to thigh and back again, as his mouth continued to explore hers.

"Roger..." she sighed, as he nibbled on the tender curve of her neck.

"Samantha..." he answered.

"We.. we can't..." she began.

He paused, lifted his head from her neck, looked her in the eyes.

"I know, Samantha, I know. Too soon. That'd be too fast. This right here is enough for now."

She saw his understanding. Didn't want to rush anything, if this was going to mean something later. She'd already decided she didn't want just casual play with this man. She wasn't lying when she'd said he fascinated her.

"Would it be unseemly for us to fall asleep where we're laying, Colonel?"

"Not at all, Major."

And so they did, wrapped in each other's arms.


	4. 31 JUL to 01 AUG 2004 Rated M

31 JUL to 01 AUG 2004 The Morning After  
Rating: M (This segment has character development and more on their relationship. I was told this scene is very well-done. Roger fans won't want to miss this.)

Sometime during the night, Roger and Sam relocated to her bed. The heat emanating from his body woke Sam up.

She propped up on an arm, watching him sleep, the first rays of early dawn shining on him through the filmy curtain. He was such an enigma. Presenting one Roger to the world, and being another with those he was close to, like Tony Nelson. And now her.

She smiled, remembering last night, the tickle-fight, the kissing... and then they'd awoken, stiff from lying on the couch, and moved to her bed. He'd lifted her up in his arms, and she pointed where to go.

It all seemed to progress so naturally. She hadn't planned on making love to Roger Healey, but somehow it happened. Seemed the right thing to do. So much had transpired between them in just a couple of days. She was attracted to him for so many reasons. Intelligent, funny, attractive in a comfortable way, eyes that always seemed to be laughing, like he found everything amusing.

Then he had his serious, passionate side, that she'd finally revealed. She knew that he took his roles as an astronaut, a Major, a scientist, very seriously.

She thought back to last night...

As he picked her up in his strong arms, she rested her head comfortably on his shoulder, pointing to the door of her bedroom. She found her mouth against his neck, and slowly, deliberately began kissing it, nibbling it, wrapping her arms tighter about him.

"Sam, keep that up and I don't think I'll be able to go back to sleep," he said in a low, sleepy voice as he approached the bedroom.

"Sleep's for the weak," she said.

He had to laugh at that. She smiled, knowing she could make HIM laugh too, it wasn't just one-way. She pulled him off-balance, pulling his head down, trying to plant a kiss on him as he was walking.

"Samantha, I'm going to drop you, don't struggle!"

"Only a few more feet, Roger," she breathed into his ear.

He pushed the door open and unceremoniously plopped her on the bed.

"Whee!" she squealed as she bounced up and down. As the bounce went UP, she launched herself at him, still standing at the side of the bed.

He was ready for her and caught her around the waist, held her in a passionate embrace. He kissed her with the same passion as before, running his hands up and down her back. No, she definitely wasn't ready to go back to sleep.

They stood like that for what seemed like hours, drowning in one another. He's such an amazing kisser, she thought. He puts himself into it 100, no holding back. She could've continued on like that indefinitely. His hands felt along the waist of her jeans, and slowly began working up under her sweatshirt.

She did the same thing with her hands under his t-shirt, and they slowly began to undress, not bothering to stop kissing for long. He got on the bed, on his knees as she was. He pulled back a little when he pulled her sweatshirt over her head, mussing her hair into sweet disarray, looking her up and down in the pale light of the Moon.

She let him hold her at arm's length, let him take in her form. From the look on his face, he was quite enraptured with her.

"Samantha, you are beautiful, this moonlight is making you glow." He looked out the window, where he could see the fullness of the Moon through the thin curtains, and back to her. She was his Moon goddess.

He gazed again at the Moon, a look of bliss on his face, for just a lingering moment. She followed his gaze out the window too, and leaned into his now-bared chest, wrapping her arms around his back.

They were poised that way for a few moments. He was mesmerized by it, absently kissing her head as she leaned into him.

"What was it like, Roger?" She knew what he was thinking about.

"It's hard to describe. The peacefulness, the quiet... the tranquility, as it were."

She chuckled softly, not wanting to break his reverie.

"To be there, in that sterile environment, doing your tasks, trying to get it all done as quickly and efficiently as possible. Then to look at the mountain range, to see Earthrise. To see this beautiful blue world rising over that moonscape, in all her glory. A blue-green jewel filling the Moon's sky, filling your vision so that is all you can see. Driving away the gray, the solitude, the desolation that is the Moon. Thinking about all that's on her, all the life, the people, going about their everyday lives while three men are on this rock looking up at them. And you realize just how precious she is, our Earth, so fragile and so strong at the same time." He was almost talking to himself by now, lost in the pale blue glow.

She watched him speak, lost in his own world, transfixed. His eyes were glowing, filling with tears as he remembered what he saw, telling her about it. Her own eyes began to fill too. She'd been to other planets, yes, but hadn't seen the Earth from his perspective. She always loved to see it from space, when she was up there in the Prometheus, or an X-302, but the Earthrise from the Moon, that's something she'd never experienced.

"Roger..." she said softly, breaking the spell. "That sounds incredible. And you were trying to make it sound like a trip to the Moon wasn't really important to you!"

He looked down and smiled, bringing himself back to the here-and-now."Of course it is, not many can say they've been there! But NOW, a chance to go off-world, to whole new solar systems? I'm champing at the bit!" and to demonstrate, he leaned down and began to bit at her neck, "Champ, champ, champ!"

She laughed aloud at that, and pulled him over on her, hands still around to his back. She was surprised about how strong he was, he had what seemed an average build. She felt his muscles move in response under her hands, as they resumed their kissing.

His moods could be so fluid, one minute they're falling back on her bed, laughing, arms wrapped around another, and the next minute she felt the fire again, the intensity as he kissed and nibbled and even bit her with such complete abandon.

His hand began exploring her waist again, this time unfastening her jeans, which suddenly seemed way too constricting. He'd worked his mouth down her neck and throat, to her breast, kissing and nibbling on the way. While his mouth was doing wonderful things to her there, his fingers had worked into her pants, slowly seeking her inner flesh.

She put her head back, eyes closed, lost in the sensations going on all over her, little gasps escaping her mouth. His hand had reached the goal, and he began to expertly manipulate her, tease her, all the while her gasps coming louder, faster.

Hearing her response thrilled him even further, he knew she was on the brink. He brought his mouth back up to the curve of her neck, while still working his fingers magnificently below. She sounded like she was hyperventilating. Almost there, he thought... Now! And he drove two fingers into her, bending them just so he'd hit her most delicate inner spot.

She fell back, pulling him with her, and screamed, "Roger!" as the world exploded around her. "That... that..."

She felt him chuckle against her neck; he knew he was good. She pulled back, determination on her face. She pulled her jeans off the rest of the way, discarded them in the corner, and pushed him down against the pillows. She grabbed his shorts, and violently pulled them off. "Roger... NOW!" She wanted him desperately, now, this instant, foreplay over.

He was certainly more than ready. She climbed on top of him, slowly lowering herself toward him, but not QUITE meeting the mark. She propped herself on her arms, held her head over him, leaned down to gently kiss him, all the while working herself just over him, rubbing him, grinding her hips. He kept trying to close the gap, but she wouldn't allow him.

"Sam..." he moaned. "Do something, PLEASE!"

She kept kissing him, teasing his mouth, his lips, nipping on him, "And what would that be, my brilliant geologist astronaut?" She was waiting to see how long he could go before grabbing her hips. Not too long, apparently.

"Sam!" He grabbed her by the hips and slammed her down onto him. She screamed again as he went in so violently, arching her body, moving with the motion of his hips. He was lost, abandoned to the feel of it. She closed her eyes, matched him move for move, the tension in both building.

They continued that way for what seemed like forever, until Sam thought she was going to literally explode, then he arched against her one last time in a powerful surge, reaching completion, and the motion triggered her own release.

She collapsed onto him, putting herself completely against him, reveling in his strength, his scent, feeling his arms around her once more. She was exhausted. She lay like that for a while, not wanting to move, to release him from her body. He began to again slowly kiss her, rub her hair, nuzzle her on the neck with his nose.

She pulled back to look him in the eyes. "Roger Healey, you sure have the world fooled, you know that, don't you?"

"Keep 'em guessin', I say," smiling up at her radiant face. "So, was it good for you?" he asked, tongue-in-cheek.

She gave him a light punch on the arm. "As if you couldn't tell!"

He looked almost shy. "Well, what can I say, I'm good! Surprise, surprise, huh?"

He kept stroking her hair, and pulled her down to rest her head on his shoulder. She remained where she was, and he didn't seem to mind, so she slowly fell asleep on him, enfolded in his arms, soft hands touching her into slumber.

Sam couldn't say how long she'd slept, perhaps an hour, maybe two, when she started to slowly come to consciousness. Roger had been exploring her in her sleep, she remembered dreaming it, hearing him talk to her, feeling his hands and fingers, tongue and lips expertly work her over.

She was fully awake, but didn't move, she lay there and let him do what he was doing. And slowly, carefully, she began to nibble on his neck, showing him she had awakened. She could feel his startled reaction, as she felt him stiffen inside her. She'd not moved yet from that earlier, glorious position. She tweaked her hips a little, to encourage him, get him going, and that surely didn't take long.

"Roger... my surprising Roger," she chuckled against his chest.

He whispered, "I told you."

So now, she was lying by his side, watching him sleep. Amazingly, they'd made love three times last night. She was spent, totally and utterly exhausted. She glanced at the alarm. Great, we've got to be at work in an hour.

Sam leaned down, kissed his neck, the base of his throat. She wanted to do more, oh, so much more, but there wasn't time.

"Roger, we need to get up," she whispered against his chest.

He stirred for a moment, looked around, and turned to face Sam. She stood up, stretching in the early sunlight. He watched her, admiring her beauty.

"Now, THAT is a sight I could wake up to every morning, until the day I die!" he exclaimed, grabbing her around the waist, kissing her tummy.

"Who gets the shower first?"


	5. 01 AUG 2004

01 AUG 2004 At the SGC 

Roger and Sam arrived with minutes to spare at the 0700 morning staff meeting. They weren't concerned about appearing together, slightly flushed. Let tongues wag, there was nothing that could be done about it. Both had served in the military long enough to know that any closed community, like the SGC, had a very active rumor mill.

Roger winked at Sam as they both took available seats, like he was saying, "Keep 'em guessin'." She smiled back at him, then turned her attention to General O'Neill, as he prepared to start the morning's briefing.

As O'Neill was speaking, asking questions of the others, hearing responses, Sam and Roger took the chance to sneak glances at each other. At one point, Roger made a quick funny face, too fast for anyone to catch, and Samantha busted up laughing.

O'Neill looked at her. "Carter? Was there something you needed to add?"

She turned attentively to the General, all military now. She glanced at her father, making herself think of his admonition, "Now, straighten up that face!"

She looked back at the General. "No, sir, nothing."

He looked at her a second, then turned his head toward Healey, who suddenly found something on his pen fascinating. He looked back at Sam, then again to Healey. The others in the room certainly missed nothing of this little exchange. Sam and Roger were doing their best to broadcast, "Hey, I'm innocent, nothing unusual here!"

"Healey." O'Neill said abruptly.

Roger's head snapped up, spine straightening to attention. "Sir!"

"How is the data comparison going?"

"Very slowly, sir. We're going to resume at 0800, once you're finished with us this morning. Colonel Carter and I are champing at the bit to get this finished."

Sam lost it. Her head fell forward onto her notepad as she laughed silently to herself, tears streaming down her face because she couldn't find release in laughing out loud. Before O'Neill had a chance to say anything, her father spoke up.

"Samantha!" he said sternly.

She lifted her tear-streaked face toward him, "Sir?"

"The General is conducting a meeting. Now, straighten up that face." He maintained a dour countenance, but Sam knew her father was also trying to keep a straight face. They stared into each others' eyes, Sam trying her hardest to find calmness in his brown eyes, Jacob and Selmak laughing inside at the joy and playfulness on his daughter's face.

Something happened last night, Selmak told Jacob. You can feel it in the air, she's radiating, he's radiating.

Well, she certainly doesn't give me the impression it was a bad thing, WHATEVER IT WAS, he warned Selmak. Like saying, PLEASE don't talk to me about what my daughter's doing with some man!

All Selmak could do was chuckle to himself.

Daniel, Teal'c, Tony. They said nothing, soaking it all in for later. This was entertaining, watching O'Neill, Carter, Healey and Jacob/Selmak go 'round with one another.

Jack felt like he was losing everyone in this meeting. He looked over his notes, to see if they'd covered all he wanted to cover, and decided it was best to end it. Hopefully, by afternoon, they'd have the Gate data they were looking for.

"Well, seeing as we're starting to sound like a junior high science class, you're all dismissed," he said, standing up, waving them away from his presence. It wasn't like Carter to be like this, especially not at the morning briefing. She was like a lit fuse, ready to go off, the littlest provocation could trigger another laughing fit.

He watched as everyone gathered their notes together and began to shuffle out, probably heading to the cafeteria for one more cup of coffee before starting the day. Jacob stayed behind, watching everyone too, saw his daughter and Healey fall into step next to one another. As they passed through the doorway, they saw Sam hold Healey's arm for a moment, putting her head briefly on his shoulder, then stand upright again.

Jack and Jacob looked at each other for a second. Jacob arched one eyebrow, doing his best Spock impersonation, and said, "Fascinating." before heading to the door as well.

Jack laughed as Jacob left, stress relieved. He wasn't sure how Jacob would react, and Jacob wasn't sure how Jack would react. Officially, Carter and Healey weren't doing anything wrong. He was here on detached duty, US Army, so it couldn't be fraternizing. He'd wait and see how this current crisis would pan out, to see if this might be problematic in the near future.

Freshly-brewed coffee in hand, Carter and Healey went to her lab, shut the door behind them.

"Would it be too obvious if we drew the blinds too?" Roger asked, setting his coffee down, powering up his computer.

"Um... after that little show, I think so, yes. Even having the door shut is obvious, but that's tough." She reached over to switch her machine on too. She walked over to Roger's computer desk, glanced at the window, then drew him to her for a deep, passionate kiss. He enjoyed that for a moment, then pulled back.

"Okay, Colonel, we REALLY need to behave on base!" he said, trying to sound professional, all military man. He wasn't fooling her for a second. "I mean, come ON, your father's just down the hallway! He's a GENERAL!"

She laughed, gave him one more quick kiss and went back to her desk. "You don't know my father well enough to know, but he was trying his damnedest not to bust up laughing in that meeting, when he spoke to me. Selmak was probably laughing whatever passes for an ass on him off." She smiled, imagining such a sight.

She crumpled up a piece of paper and chucked it at him. "Champing at the bit! Rat! You KNEW that would set me off!"

He laughed, "Of course I did." He chucked the paperball back at her. "Now, let's get to work, the sooner we get this found, the sooner I get to step through that Gate!"

They turned to the tasks, ready to start anew.

Over an hour into their search, Roger let out a whoop. "I've found it!"

"COOL!" yelled Carter, hurrying to his side. Roger pointed to the windows displayed on the monitor.

"Look, combined mass of SG-9, and the mass/energy conversion is way too high!" He did a quick calculation. "This conversion value indicates what might be seven average-weight humans going through! I'll bet there were three, Jeannie and probably two men."

"This is great, Roger, good catch! We would've had it last night if we'd stayed just a bit longer!"

He leaned over to her neck, poised over his shoulder as she looked at the data, and kissed it quickly. "If we'd done that, we'd be heading out today and last night wouldn't have happened!"

She turned to face him, almost nose to nose. "You're right, it wouldn't." Sneaking one more glance at the window, she put her hand behind his neck and kissed him again. "Congratulations, Major Healey, now let's get this party started!"

General O'Neill looked up from the report he'd been reading from SG-4. Healey and Carter were standing there, grinning like two kids who'd stolen the last pie.

"You found it?"

Carter looked at Healey. "Major Healey did, sir. P2X-899. SG-9 seems to have brought along three travelers when they went there on a planetary survey four weeks ago. Based on what Major Healey said Jeannie's mass was, we estimate it was her and two adult males."

"Good work, Healey, Carter. Notify Nelson that we may've located her, and get Daniel and Teal'c. Go over the mission report from that day, see if anything unusual comes up."

"Yes, sir, right away." They turned to find Tony, to tell him the news.

He was in the cafeteria, having one last cup of coffee with Daniel and Teal'c. Until the data were analyzed, they didn't have much else to do.

Sam and Roger burst into the almost-empty cafeteria.

"Tony, we may've found her!" Roger crowed. "Looks like she and two men went through, four weeks ago, with SG-9!"

Tony's face lit up with hope. "What do we do now, Colonel Carter?"

Roger and Sam sat down at the table with the others. "We get the mission report from that day, look it over, see if there was anything unusual going on. Maybe the team felt something, heard something unseen."

Tony couldn't hustle out of there fast enough. "Where do we find this report?"

They gathered in the main conference room, that overlooked the embarkation room. Each grabbed a portion of SG-9's mission report, going over the details for anything unusual. Nothing seemed immediately untoward to them. Looked like your typical survey.

Tony leaned forward over his portion of the file, and humphed to himself. The silence broken, everyone looked at him with interest.

"Tony? Did you find something?" Roger asked.

"I don't know, Roger, I think this is something you'll need to see. Look here, it says in the ten hours SG-9 was on the planet, they'd had six quakes."

Roger went over to sit by Tony, pulled the file to him. "Six quakes, in ten hours? And those would be felt quakes, who knows how many smaller ones were going on." He scanned the document quickly, read it to the others.

"The most unusual thing on this survey was the number of quakes we experienced. Six in the ten hours we were on the planet. Lt. Owens, a native of California, estimated the felt quakes to be from 3.5 to 6.0, each quake getting steadily more intense."

Roger looked at a table attached to the page, showing the times each quake occurred and the Lieutenant's estimated Richter scale measurement. Native of California. He was probably fairly accurate, if just going by what he'd experienced, observing his surroundings, the duration of the quake, the ground motion.

"Lt. Owens probably did a fair guesstimate on the measurements, if only from his experience growing up in California. We should get more data, though, before going through the Gate." He looked over at Sam.

"We could send a MALP and a UAV through, get the lay of the land, before trying this. We have no idea who or what's on the other side, if Jeannie and these two men went there. Could be a crowd, could be just those three. Might have guards at the Gate too." She stood to go ask Sgt. Davis to order the devices, send them through.

When she was out of earshot, Tony leaned in close to Roger, "So? What happened last night? What was that little show this morning?"

Roger glanced at Teal'c and Daniel, who suddenly found their own mission files the most interesting reading they'd ever seen. Roger didn't know how accute Teal'c's hearing was, or he'd never have said anything, whispering back to Tony.

Roger leaned in close to Tony's ear, and said two little words... "Three times."

Tony coughed, trying to disguise his laugh. He took a sip of water, then looked back at Roger, admiration in his eyes. He didn't say a word, just raised his eyebrows and his glass in a silent toast. He whispered back, leaning just as close to Roger, "You da man!"

Busy whispering to one another, they missed Daniel's and Teal'c's silent exchange. Teal'c had held up his file folder, to hide the note he wrote to Daniel, sitting next to him. Two little words... "Three times." Teal'c wrote, passing it to Daniel.

Tony and Roger looked up when Daniel busted up laughing, seemingly out of the blue. Roger looked suspiciously at Teal'c, at Daniel, narrowing his eyes, wondering... Naw, they didn't hear me, he's thinking some archeologist thing probably. "General Nuisance" O'Neill had called Daniel.

Sam returned up the spiral staircase, to see Daniel wiping laugh-tears from his cheek, and Teal'c looking, well, like a rascal, if Teal'c can look that way. Tony and Roger had their heads bent together, whispering. What had O'Neill said this morning? Junior high science class? She rolled her eyes, thinking, MEN!

She walked smartly back to where she'd been sitting, all serious and in command. "The MALP and UAV will be deployed within the half-hour. Major Healey, we'll be receiving telemetry almost immediately upon its arrival, if there're no unforeseen problems like guards at the Gate. Prepare to meet with Sgt. Davis, and he'll show you where the data will be displayed as it comes in."

He sat up straight, back to the task at hand after their little interlude. "Yes, ma'am. I'll go down there and talk to him right now. Does the MALP have any seismological equipment on it?"

"Yes, it's SOP to check the surrounding landmass and atmosphere, take soil samples, air samples, such as that. It should have all the sensors you'll need."

He headed down the stairs to talk to Walter. Sam watched him go. What in the world had they been talking about? And here he was again, being the serious Major Healey. She turned back to the other three men. Nelson was reading over the file, trying to appear industrious, but Daniel and Teal'c looked at her, laughter in their eyes.

She looked at Tony briefly, then back to her SG-1 teammates. She gave them "the look" that said, "Not one word, you two!" and turned to leave.

Teal'c went down to the Gate room, to see if he could be of assistance to Sgt. Siler, who was preparing the MALP and the UAV. They'd send the UAV through first, being a more difficult target to hit if there were hostiles on the other side.

Daniel rose as well. "Major Nelson?"

Tony looked up.

Daniel leaned forward, across the table a bit. "Maybe we should've told you and Major Healey, but Teal'c has EXCELLENT hearing!" He saw Tony blush on his friend's behalf, and left singing to himself, "Knock three times on the ceiling if you want me..." Tony laughed at Daniel's retreating back. Oh well.

Carter and Healey sat at the display station in the Gate control room, watching the data pour in. This was Roger's show, Sam thought. She liked seeing him the one in charge, being the expert. She was watching the data for other information, but she knew their main concern now, now that they knew there were no hostiles in the immediate vicinity, was what was going on with the land.

As the minutes ticked by, he was using the control-stick to manipulate the camera of the UAV, panning it around the horizon, looking at the lay of the land. On another monitor was the MALP data, showing atmospheric and soil readings. He would glance from one to the other, muttering to himself, grunting in astonishment every so often.

Sam saw him pan the camera over the same stretch of horizon a few times, checking the MALP data again for air samples.

"Roger? Is something wrong?" She called him by name, so engrossed with what he was doing, the concentration on his face, she had forgotten she was at the base.

Her voice broke his concentration. He looked at her, dazed for a moment, then blinked. She smiled, understanding how he felt. She got that way, too, when she was involved in something so fascinating, she closed out everything.

"To be seeing this, a new planet, so Earth-like! It's incredible! I could die happy right now, just having this chance!"

His enthusiasm was infectious, and she laughed. "I know, I love seeing the wonder on new folks at the SGC, it brings it all back to me and my first time." She looked around, saw the coast was clear, and kissed him quickly, he was so alive and radiant like this. He blushed.

"Now, Colonel..." he whispered, nodding toward Walter's back. The sergeant was occupied with something, and didn't hear anything.

She smiled, but nodded her head back to the displays. "You were going back and forth on that one part, did something strike you as unusual?"

"Let me show you." He leaned over to another computer that they weren't using, brought up the Internet and went to a USGS site. He clicked around until he found the picture he wanted.

"Now, look at this picture here, on Earth, and compare it to this," and he panned that stretch of horizon again. "Look similar?"

"Yes, very much so. That's Yellowstone?"

"Yep." He tapped the screen. "This was taken from a new NASA high-altitude unmanned aircraft that was launched in the 50's. They were testing the camera equipment, and flew over Yellowstone National Park, taking pictures. This was one of them. A geologist later examined the picture and discovered something most remarkable."

He zoomed in on another picture, showing a red outline. "This red border is the rim of a very active and a very dangerous volcano. They'd known for years that Yellowstone was very geologically active, of course, but they couldn't identify the actual crater rim. They didn't realize it was so huge, until they saw this image. And THIS image, from Earth, strangely looks like THAT image, from P2X-899. I may've discovered a caldera volcano on another planet!"

He couldn't disguise the excitement in his voice, especially when he said, "A caldera volcano that MAY be getting ready to erupt!"

"What! How do you know?"

"Piecing together the little clues. The number and frequencies of the quakes. Hell, look here, the MALP recorded one soon after it went through." He turned back to the displays. "I'll tell you later though, in the briefing room, no reason to repeat myself. I need to get these while that wormhole window is still going."

She watched him again, going back into his "zen" mode of concentration. They watched in silence for a few minutes, shoulder to shoulder, when Sam pointed to the screen. "Look!"

It was unmistakeable. Ruins. A lot of ruins. Daniel was going to be happy.

After the wormhole dissolved, Roger and Sam began gathering all the data they'd collected. He downloaded and printed the pictures he'd found on the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) site, to show as comparison with what they'd been reading from P2X-899. Sam got the pictures showing the ruins in as much detail as they could get before the data stopped transmitting.

Sam stood, and leaned down to whisper in Roger's ear. "Meet me in my lab, with your lunch tray, soon as you can."

She stood upright, all business. "I'll go talk to General O'Neill, arrange to meet tomorrow morning at 0800 again."

She left him with that, and he watched her walk away, enjoying the little hip-wiggle she gave him. He turned toward Walter. Nope, not busted, he's busy with whatever it is that he gets busy with. Roger headed for the cafeteria.

He got to the lab first, ready to snarf his lunch. He had no idea what Sam had in mind, but he hoped it involved lowering the blinds of her window facing the corridor. She joined him a few minutes later, ready to wolf her food too. She looked at her watch.

"We've got 36 minutes. Eat fast."

"For what?" he asked, trying not to read too much into it.

She glanced over to her storage closet, and smiled at him. "Guess."

Afterwards, when they were helping one another get their uniforms straightened out, Roger leaned toward Sam for one more kiss before they started working on the mission briefings.

"Girl, you're going to wear me out!"

She feigned shock. "ME wear YOU out? Mr. 'I'm 50 years old and I made love to my woman three times last night'? I don't think so!"

"Yes, I should apologize for that."

"For what, three times?"

"Yeah, I was having an off-night apparently."

She cracked up laughing as they left the closet. And there were Tony, Daniel and Teal'c standing there.

"God, took you two long enough!" Daniel exclaimed. The two froze there. Roger looked over at Tony, who was doing his best not to bust up.

Roger decided for the casual tact. "Hey, what can I say? Never a quickie, always a longie." he quoted from a favorite movie. What the hell, they know. No Generals in the room (thank God), so he wasn't worried. Sam was the highest rank here, after all, and she didn't mind.

"Well, now that you two are FINALLY finished" -- Jesus, how long had they been out here? the two wondered -- "Can we PLEASE find out what you found? Sam, you said there were ruins?"

She pointed to the data file she'd put together, "Have at it. That's probably where Jeannie and her abductors went, if anywhere, considering how long they've been gone. Only signs of civilization we saw."

Tony moved over by Daniel, as they looked it over together. Teal'c went to where Roger had his file.

"Major Healey, I understand you found some fascinating geological data. May I look it over with you?"

"Sure, Teal'c, let me show you what I have, what you can do to help me piece all this together for General O'Neill."

And so the team worked through the afternoon, with Healey and Nelson, preparing for the trip tomorrow, the astronauts' first step through the Gate.

(Song excerpt from Tony Orlando and Dawn's 'Knock Three Times.')


	6. 02 AUG 2004

(Author's Note: To the IDoJ fans, as of this date, it's ASSUMED this is true about Jeannie. There's something surprising coming down the pike. Don't panic.)

02 AUG 2004 The Stargate

They were all gathered in the briefing room, O'Neill, Jacob/Selmak, SG-1, Nelson and Healey. Roger had asked Daniel to do his report on the ruins they'd found via the UAV first, so he could devote the rest of the meeting to the geological findings in his report.

Daniel finished his report, and gave Healey the floor. Roger got his materials together on the whiteboard holder, and turned to face them.

"We may have to do this as quickly as possible, General, the sooner the better."

"Why's that, this activity you were scanning, the information from SG-9?"

"Yes, sir, we may be witnessing the beginning of a cataclysmic volcanic eruption on P2X-899. All the data are pointing to it."

Jack looked around at the others. "Cataclysmic? A volcanic eruption? Mt. St. Helens all over again? People survived."

"Yes, sir, that they did. This is nothing compared to Mt. St. Helens, though." He put up a chart. "This is the VEI, the Volcanic Explosive Index. If you look at the examples, St. Helens was a 5 on a scale of 1 to 8." He pointed to 8. "THIS is cataclysm. This is what we call a caldera volcano. The last one to blow was 74,000 years ago. No modern human has ever witnessed one. It's believed there are only seven on the entire planet. It's said it would be the loudest sound ever heard by humans."

He couldn't hide his excitement. "If this IS a caldera getting ready to blow its cork, and we can get the data, this could be the chance of MANY lifetimes, not just one! The way the Richter scale is logarithmic, so is the VEI. A 5 compared to an 8 is like night and day. St. Helens is a mere pop to an 8."

He put more charts, notes and pictures up, showed them the atmospheric analyses, the soil samples, the quake information they had. "This is it, increased quakes, both in frequency and magnitude, toxic gases in the air, in the soil. It's probably been going on for months, and Jeannie and her 'friends' are most likely unaware of the danger they're in!"

He showed the picture of what appeared to be the caldera rim. "The ruins are on the RIM of what's probably the caldera itself!" He was excited, yes, but he was also apprehensive, to think of his friend and Tony's love in that much danger.

"We can't delay, sir, it could go in an hour, a day, a week, nobody knows, since we've never seen one actually erupt!"

O'Neill stood up. "All right, Colonel Carter, gentlemen, you've got a go. Get the gear you need and head out as soon as possible." He turned to Jacob. "You going to hang around until they get back, see what you or Selmak can tell about that technology?"

"Yes, I hope they won't be TOO long, given the nature of the conditions there!"

They were ready to go. Roger had a few instruments, in addition to the typical off-world gear. SG-1 had taught them the tricks of the trade, to traveling off-world, and now it was finally happening. The adrenalin was flowing, his heart was racing, this was it. A mere step through the watery glaze, and you're on the other side. No blazing torch under you, no 3-day trip, no fiery re-entry, no splashdown. He was going to be on another planet in the Galaxy, a planet much like Earth, many light years away. Light years. Never in all his dreams did he imagine this happening!

He looked at Tony, who was as eager to step through as he. "This is incredible, Tony!"

His best friend looked at him. "Roj, in all my years as an astronaut, I could never have dreamed of this... LIGHT YEARS from Earth!" Roger smiled. True to form, he and Tony were thinking much alike.

They waited impatiently as Walter announced each glyph being coded in. This was ADVENTURE, not collecting rocks, delivering scientists. Danger, too. Very real danger. Tony and Roger had some combat experience, not like a Special Ops soldier like O'Neill, but they'd been in their share of mix-ups. They were rarin' to go, especially Tony. He could sense he was close to finding Jeannie, no matter what. Or die trying.

O'Neill and SG-1 were listening to the two talk. They always loved watching people's reactions as they first went through the Gate. Daniel remembered when he and Jack had guided Dr. Catherine Langford through, what a moment it was for her. After all those years, she was finally going to get through the Gate.

These two were the first astronauts to ever do so, so their observations were different. They'd been to space, been to the Moon, another world entirely. They knew the math, knew that the likelihood of them going light years away, in their lifetimes, was nil. Until that fateful meteor hit their space shuttle, and changed their lives forever.

"Chevron Seven... LOCKED" came Walter's voice, and the wormhole event horizon burst forth, like a crystalline waterfall, right at Tony and Roger.

"WHOA!" They exclaimed simultaneously.

O'Neill clapped them on the shoulders. "It's a Kodak moment, gentlemen, take your time. The first time's always the roughest," and he winked at Carter, Jackson and Teal'c, again trying to make the two newcomers nervous.

Sam smiled at Jack and turned to Roger. "Roger, fiery re-entry... thousands of miles an hour... radio blackout... this is NOTHING compared to what you've already done, remember?"

"SG-1, Majors Nelson and Healey, you've got a go. Enough rubbernecking."

"Yes, sir," the two said, as they followed SG-1 up the ramp. Teal'c and Daniel went through first. Sam grabbed them both by the arms, and said, "Up and out, gentlemen, once the Gate is opened and people moving through, we can't hang about too long!"

And with that, she pulled them through.

02 AUG 2004 Jeannie

She moved around the "room," if that's what you could call it, picking up the used dishes. Her exile on this goddess-forsaken world had gone on for four interminable weeks. She kept track of the days, the hours, the minutes, since she'd last seen her Master. Anthony. She had to stop calling him that, even in her own mind. Habits of so many years.

Her cousins were over at the Atrium, as they'd dubbed it, playing Jackals & Hounds, a favorite for thousands of years. Every night, without fail, for untold years, they've ended their evenings this way. No reason to break tradition now, on another planet.

The oldest cousin, Yusel, laughed uproariously at his younger brother, Hamal. "Got you, brother!"

The younger scowled, rose up and stomped off. Like he did every night.

Don't they ever get tired of that, Jeannie wondered. Every night, same thing, Yusel wins, Hamal stomps off. Going to sulk in his usual place, his corner where he'd set up his sleeping accomodations.

For one being used to any comfort, any desire at her whim, this was torture. She couldn't do things just by blinking them. Her cousins had confiscated her Gifts, she was weak, she was (dare she say?) "normal." For the first time since she reached the Age and had received her Gifts, as was her right, a daughter of a noble house. Now, she was nothing.

She set the dishes down with a slam, and Yusel looked at her.

"Cousin, those are all we have, do NOT break them! Those blasted quakes are breaking everything!"

She turned pleading eyes to him, once again begging, "PLEASE honored cousin, let us go HOME then!" Ha, honored cousin, she thought. But if she even insinuated anything but utmost respect, he would beat her, as was his right.

His black eyes drilled into her. "NO! Not until the poison of that" and he oozed the name out "NELSON is out of your mind, your heart. He is not worthy of a daugher of our house!"

"He IS worthy! He loves me! He is strong, intelligent, as required. He is brave, he goes to the stars, the Moon, in their own craft. That is not brave to you? He does not need to use the Gifts to make himself a wonderful man!" She regretted it the instant she said it.

He reached across and cuffed her for insolence. She rolled with it, to take the sting away, knowing she'd spoken out of turn.

She slunk back to where she'd slammed the dishes down, ashamed of her reaction. The dishes were important, and Cousin was right, the quakes were destroying everything. Yusel and Hamal, though, were unafraid. They had their Gifts, they could do whatever they wished. They deliberately did not. They were not afraid, but they knew that she, without her Gfits, was terrified, helpless. They'd get her to crack, get her to forget about this, this... PERSON that had so fascinated her for years.

If that was the condition for their leaving back to Earth, then here they'd stay. Tony was forever in her heart, no passage of time would change that.

She squealed and ran into the open when another quake hit. This one was again stronger than the previous. She looked around at the terrain, the cliffs that dropped so abruptly, just a short distance away. Something was happening, she could feel it. The quakes had grown more numerous and more intense the last couple weeks, beginning regularly just days after their arrival.

But, as usual, the cousins were not concerned. They had their Gifts, they could blink away to the Chaapa'ai and to safety whenever they wished, leaving her behind to locate her own Gifts they'd secreted away. She had tried to discreetly locate them the last few days, desperation driving her on. If Yusel caught her, she'd get a sound beating for her efforts.

They left her to her own thoughts, out in the open, looking around and waiting for the next quake. After a few minutes of standing there, a wind wafted her way from the cliffs, and she sensed a very mild, almost non-existent odor. She curled her nose and upper lip at the disgusting smell. Ugh, rotten eggs? Here? In the woods?

She looked back to the ruins, the hovel they'd called "home" for the last four weeks. Yusel was playing a solo game, Hamal was doing his post-game sulk. They weren't paying attention to her. She wandered away from them, toward a clearing, afraid of things over her head if another quake hit. And it would. It was almost possible to predict them, they were coming with such regularity.

She stopped at the barrier they'd set her. This far, no further, Yusel decreed. And he'd know, too. She gazed in the distance, toward where she knew the Chaapa'ai was. So close, and yet so far. All she'd have to do is run for it, dial home, get through the Gate. She knew the address, of course. All children of her people were taught the address for Earth.

But even if, by small chance, she DID get to the Gate and dial home, what would happen on the other side, in that room of concrete and steel? How would she explain herself?

She continued on, face down, shuffling her feet, kicking a particularly attractive rock she found, when she heard it. In the distance, toward the Gate. A buzzing sound. She quickly looked back, to see if the cousins were following her. They were not.

She couldn't go past the barrier, but she could go right up to it. She got as close as she could, and looked, scanning the horizon for that buzzing sound. She looked up, and to her complete amazement, she saw a little plane. She began to jump up and wave madly, not making too much noise, trying to get someone's attention, little knowing it was unoccupied. But something was happening, someone was at the Gate!

Could it be ANTHONY? Hope beyond hope! It couldn't be though. He knew nothing of the Chaapa'ai, and she could not have told him. It was one of their strictest Laws: Do NOT discuss the Chaapa'ai with outsiders, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCE. As much as she loved Anthony, she could not break that training.

She knew other races knew of their Gate system (she had to think it was THEIR Gate system, after all), and wondered who'd come through. The Nox? The Asgard? Some of those horrid Goa'ulds? She shuddered, thinking about them. She'd never met one, but she'd heard about them. An inferior species who enslaved HUMANS to be hosts, guards, servants. She hated them. That was something else engrained in her from her earliest days, that and the Laws.

Any of her people who attained the Age and received their Gifts had nothing to fear from the Goa'uld, but they were used to scare children, horror stories told around the fire.

Her keen eyesight kept watch on the little plane, as it buzzed around in a circle back and forth. Little did she realize that it was her friend Roger Healey at the controls! It approached the ruins, the precipitous cliffs to her left then turned back. She made one more futile attempt to be seen, but it was already heading back toward the Gate. Her hopes dashed, her depression returned.

She turned around to go back to the cousins and their humbled abode.

The next day, after a sleepless night thinking about the wondrous little plane she'd seen, Jeannie got up to do the drudgery, as always. Her cousins could pop in whatever they wished for comforts, so the food was laid out for her to finish preparing. Of course, they don't do it already COOKED as she'd done for Anthony so many times. They wanted to make her WORK, to do something besides mope. So she set automatically to preparing the mid-day meal.

And then another quake hit. It didn't just shake the ground back and forth, the land actually BUCKLED! She was frozen in place, helpless to move, just trying to keep her balance. The columns of the ruins moved both up and down, and sideways, and she was amazed that any land could do that to such a solid structure. She didn't realize that the land that they, and the ruins, were on was loosening, separating from the continental shelf. Her cousins seemed unconcerned, they merely stepped away into the clearing to wait it out, leaving her to her terror.

Maybe this would drive that PERSON from her, a survival instinct, Yes, yes, Anthony who? Just let me go HOME!

When the columns stopped their little dance and her feet were no longer paralyzed, Jeannie ran outside, again to the spot she'd spied the plane. She was so terrified, so exhausted, and coming off the adrenlin rush, that she found a comfortable spot under a tree and fell asleep for a short time.

A minor quake, so soon after the large one, startled her awake, adrenalin pumping in again. She couldn't keep this up, it would kill her, the terror, the shaking. The slightest little tremor made her heart rate shoot up. She had to remain strong. She was not going to give in to her cousins, she would NOT disavow Anthony Nelson! There was not a thing he could do to help her, so she had to help herself. By waiting it out with the cousins. They'd bore of this soon enough, in a month, a year, they weren't going to want to remain here on the horrid little planet.

She got up to go back to the ruins, crinkling her nose once more at the rotten egg smell. It was stronger this time. She didn't know the significance of that smell, she only knew it was MOST unpleasant! As she turned toward the ruins, her back toward the Gate in the distance, she failed to notice the party of people off in the distance, approaching their temporary home.

A few hours later, Yusel looked up from the game he was playing.

"Jeannie, tonight is your night to choose the meal, what'll it be?"

She knew what she WANTED to say, what she wanted it to be... but dared not speak it. She didn't feel like eating any way.

"Whatever you wish, honored cousin, I will be happy to prepare for you and Hamal." she said meekly. She walked to the table that was suddenly laden with food, Yusel's sneer following her. Good, she'd maintained the proper attitude.

Yusel didn't know how close he'd come to death just then.

"Whatever you wish, honored cousin, I will be happy to prepare for you and Hamal," Tony Nelson heard her say. They'd been there, watching the three, for a while, planning their strategy. With the two men having their Ancients devices, the SG-1 team, Healey and Nelson couldn't just burst in.

When Tony saw the look on Yusel's face, sneering at Jeannie with such contempt, he almost put a bullet in the man's head.

Carter saw him reach for his firearm, and grabbed his hand. She hissed at him, motioning him to remain still. He paused, as if pondering resisting her order, and Sam stared him down. He nodded his head in acquiescence. This was her show, he'd never been off-world before, she'd had way more recent experience in covert operations like this. He was confident she knew what she was doing, especially since he saw Daniel and Teal'c follow her unquestioningly.

He continued to watch, marking every move Jeannie made. She looked so vulnerable, so gaunt. She's not been eating, Tony thought. She must have been terrified all these months, now these quakes happening more and more. He nervously looked behind him, at the cliffs. The rotten egg smell, the sulfur dioxide, was stronger than when they came through the Gate. His olfactory lobes hadn't blanked out the smell, as often happens, like they were telling his brain, BAD BAD, get away, not hiding this odor!

A small quake interrupted his reverie. Not like the one that slammed them soon after they came through the Gate, thank goodness! Tony looked at Roger. And his best friend did NOT look comfortable. That small quake had felt a little different, in a way Tony couldn't identify. He wasn't a geologist, either.

He slunk over to Roger, and whispered, "Roj, what was that? That felt different, not the usual motion."

Carter turned to listen, as did Daniel and Teal'c. Roger was looking at his instruments. "Oh, this isn't good. Not good at all."

"What, Roger?" Sam demanded in a loud whisper.

"That last one, that little one? That's not your normal quake, that was a harmonic tremor."

They looked at him blankly.

"Harmonic tremors, look," and he showed them the graphic on his instrument, "are a steady wiggle on the graph, not a small one, peaking, then subsiding again. It indicates magma movement. It's probably been going on for a while, too."

He looked at Sam, the fear clear in his eyes. "Sam, we can't delay much longer. We've got to get Jeannie somehow, and hightail it back to the Gate."

Tony set his gear, his firearm, everything down, stripping down to his black pants, black t-shirt and black boots. He was going in, now. Carter watched him, knew what he was going to do. He had the stealth to do it quietly, but he couldn't let Jeannie know they were even there, or else her reaction would give them away. Slip in, slip out is what he'd planned.

The remaining four watched Nelson as he silently moved among the rocks and columns, slowly working his way toward the main "living area." Jeannie, of course, was unaware of his presence. He worked his way closer to the two cousins, watching them, seeing if they did something unusual to show where their Ancient devices were.

He froze. Jeannie was walking within two feet of him. It was all he could do to keep from jumping out and grabbing her into a huge hug, but he contained that instinct. Now more than ever, he had to think soldier, not astronaut, not officer and gentleman.

Jeannie paused as she was carrying the tray of food to her cousins. She sensed something, something she couldn't define, a presence. It was warm, it was loving. She closed her eyes, remembering that feeling, of Tony holding her in his arms, of laughing at her as he wiped ketchup off her face at their last, fateful picnic. She basked in that glow for a moment, when her cousin's harsh voice interrupted her.

"JEANNIE!" he yelled.

She started, almost dropping the tray. "Apologies, honored cousin." And she hurried to serve them.

Tony paced alongside her, behind the fallen columns, silent as a leopard, getting closer and closer to her and her wretched cousins. If he saw him speak that way to her ONE MORE TIME, he thought... and then it happened.

Jeannie tripped on a piece of rubble, pitched forward and spilled the entire tray of food on her cousin Yusel.

He screamed as the hot liquid, the wine, the roast pig landed on him, and before Jeannie could duck, he slammed his fist in her face, throwing her back.

Time stood still. All was motionless. Tony saw red, literally saw red, as he launched himself at Yusel, slamming the bigger man in the face, putting body and soul behind it. The man was so startled he had no chance to reach for his Gifts, as his instinct demanded. They were so much a part of him, by now, that he didn't know what to do without them. All he could do is yelp in surprise at this person who suddenly burst from the shadows, slamming fist after fist into his face, his stomach, preventing him from reaching anything to fight back with.

Tony couldn't stop. A part of him, the small part remaining rational, watched while it seemed like someone else's fist was pounding, pounding into the man cowering on the floor. Blood was flying everywhere. He didn't know whose it was, and didn't care. He continued on, time still motionless for him, the adrenalin pouring into his blood, driving him on. All the weeks, the months of misery, fear, worry were pouring out of him into this pathetic fool on the ground, that had dared lay a hand on HIS Jeannie!

SG-1 and Healey had been pacing along behind Tony, after the close-encounter with Jeannie. Something was going to happen, and soon. Roger followed behind Sam, who was leading the way. They got within feet of the men, Tony and Jeannie when Jeannie suddenly tripped, her cousin slammed her in the face, and something very black and very fast moved out of the shadows.

They watched while Tony beat the man down, then Carter decided it was time to interfere. She was tempted to let Nelson continue, after all this man had done to Jeannie, but if he continued he'd kill the guy. She motioned to Teal'c to go pull Nelson off the half-dead man.

Hamal, all this time, was watching the antics, after the initial shock of someone bursting from the debris. He smiled inside, It's about time someone beat that bastard down. And it was Jeannie's man to do it. As was his right. How he came to be here, he had no idea, unless through the Chaapa'ai. How he came to learn of it was a mystery as well, that he hoped to figure out.

He wanted to get off this hellfire rock as soon as possible, this was the turn of events that he'd needed. He waited to see what the others would do.

Teal'c grabbed Tony by the scruff of the neck, and effortlessly lifted him off the man on the ground. Knowing that Nelson would strike out blindly at him, he held Tony at arm's length, not allowing the slightly shorter man to reach him. He was in a rage, gone berserk. Teal'c understood. Great warriors had that trait, when the right cause, the right trigger was tripped, they were fighting machines. He looked at Major Nelson with a new respect, biding his time, patiently waiting for Tony to come out of it.

Jeannie remained on the floor, barely conscious, hearing sounds, voices, Tony, Roger. She was dreaming. Yusel had done it this time, given her a concussion, she just knew it. A pretty blond woman was standing over her, waving something nasty smelling under her nose, a handsome young man with glasses was there too, smiling down at her. Then she peered past the young man and saw Roger Healey.

"ROGER!" Staggering through the vertigo, she threw herself into his arms, crying and laughing at the same time. She looked wildly around, bringing on another wave of dizziness, but she didn't care. She saw a large man dangling Anthony, almost off the ground! Now it was her turn to have the adrenalin hit. She flung herself at the man hurting her Anthony, trying her hardest and meanest to get him to let her man go, to no avail.

"JEANNIE!" Tony snapped out of it, seeing Jeannie on, of all places, Teal'c's back, wrapping her arms around his thick neck, trying with all her strength to get him to LET GO!

Hamal watched it all.

Teal'c remained motionless, the epitome of patience. The Tau'ri were an emotional, passionate people. He bided his time, waited for all to calm down. Once Jeannie realized this huge muscular man was not harming Anthony, she ceased her struggles, but remained on Teal'c's back, eye level with Tony, who was still dangling at the end of Teal'c's strong arm.

Everyone froze, wondering what Teal'c, Tony and Jeannie were going to do next. Teal'c put Tony down. Jeannie slowly climbed off him, never letting her eyes stray from Tony's.

She looked up at him, not daring to believe he was really there, losing herself in those electric blue eyes she knew and loved so well.

"Anthony? It's really you? I'm not dreaming?" she asked quietly, still unsure, still dizzy from the blow her cousin dealt her.

His blue eyes were misting up as he pulled her close, burying his face in her neck, her hair, letting it swarm over him like had happened so many times before. "Yes, Jeannie, yes, it's really me!"

The two remained that way for a while, and everyone was content to let them.

Hamal approached finally, after witnessing it all, start to finish. These newcomers were trying to disguise any animosity toward him, but weren't succeeding very well. He had to handle this cautiously.

He approached Teal'c, believing him to be the man in charge. Hamal raised his hand, in a gesture of peace.

"Sir, my name is Hamal, younger brother to," and he looked at Yusel's unconscious form, "THAT excrement." He spat.

Teal'c remained silent.

Hamal continued, "He had the idea that Anthony Nelson was not WORTHY of our family, so took it upon himself to rid us of the man. I was opposed to it, but when I realized he was going to do it, one way or the other, I told him I'd come along." He looked tenderly over at Jeannie, still lost in Tony's eyes and arms, oblivious to any distractions.

"I've done what I could for her, without Yusel any wiser. He's a pig, using force, terror, to get people to bow to his ways. It was a pleasure to see him bested by Jeannie's own champion."

Sam and Daniel approached. Roger was hovering near Tony and Jeannie, protectively, as if he needed to guard them from any disturbance.

Hamal turned to greet them. Teal'c spoke up finally.

"This is Colonel Carter, our commander. Dr. Jackson as well."

Hamal bowed to Sam in respect. "Colonel, if I may. Anthony Nelson may not have realized what he's done. In fighting Yusel, the oldest of our family present, he has proven himself worthy to be her mate. In fact, this was one of those rare competitions in which the woman too fights for her mate. When Jeannie attacked your friend here, all she knew was that her man was in danger, and she risked her life, or so she believed, to save him."

He turned again to watch his lovely younger cousin. He'd always felt she was like a little sister to him, and today proved she was quite a fighter, not willing to give up what she truly loved and held dear to her heart. He turned back to Carter.

"It is a rare and blessed union when both man and woman risk the challenge for their mates. This has been a most auspicious occasion. I shall Witness such to my family, make the declaration that he has been deemed worthy."

A quake interrupted Carter's reply. It was bad enough to startle Tony and Jeannie out of their embrace, and they all turned to look at Roger. Hamal looked up, frightened.

He grabbed his own Gifts, held his brother's limp hand, and waved farewell, just before they popped out.

"Dammit!" Carter yelled. She looked to Jeannie, to see if she could beam them, or whatever she did, back to the Gate.

"Jeannie, I'm Colonel Carter. Can you do that for us, get us back to the Gate.?"

Regret clouded her face. "I cannot, Colonel, my cousin hid my Gifts!"

They began to frantically look around. After a few minutes, another quake hit.

Roger yelled, "Sam! We've got four kilometers to run, we can't waste any more time looking!" The desparation was clear in his voice. Something major was happening, and it was happening NOW!

Tony looked down at Jeannie. "Jeannie, we've got to run, can you run with us?"

"But... but... my GIFTS," she looked around, tears welling up.

"Honey, it's now or never. Our lives, or your Gifts, which will it be?"

"You need to ask? Us, of course!"

"Roger said this thing, that we're perched right next to, could blow, any minute, any hour.. we've got four kilometers to RUN for the Gate, are you up to it?"

She looked into the love in his eyes. "If you hold my hand, I'll be the wind!"

Roger looked at Sam again. "Sam... "

She understood. "Okay, folks, we're going for a sprint, like we did in college and the Academy. Unload everything we don't absolutely need. The GDO is all we REALLY need!" She watched while everyone lightened the loads they carried.

Roger needed his equipment. He turned to Teal'c. "Can you help carry this? If I lose all that data, this will have been for nothing!"

He realized how that sounded, turned to apologize to Jeannie. She smiled her understanding at him. The world was exploding around him, pure exhiliration for a geologist. He smiled back, hefted the instrument he was going to run with, and they all headed out.

As they hit the trail back to the Gate, loping along at an easy pace, the worst quake Jeannie had felt her whole time there hit. And it hit HARD! They all tumbled to the dirt.

Roger screamed, "Run, run, don't let that bother you! Think of the Gate, focus!"

The quake had one benefit: adrenalin. They didn't take much encouragement to start real sprinting, not just loping.

Another quake, more rotten-egg fumes, and the lava bombs began to fall.

"OH SHIT! This might be it, folks!" Roger yelled. They didn't think they could, but they ran harder. And set the sprint record on P2X-899.

Sam never thought she'd be so happy to see a Gate. The MALP was still there. The lava bombs hadn't reached that far as yet. Roger turned to look behind them, toward the caldera rim, a red glow challenging the sun's rays for brightness. He was torn between witnessing something no modern man had ever seen, or diving through the Gate that Daniel was dialing up. Survival won out this time.

"SAM! Come here, let me get this set up to record all we can, so it can send it through the Gate!"

She ran to his side, and they manipulated the instruments he now recognized, attached to the MALP. "If we have that 38 minute window, and this thing blows, we can record the only caldera volcano ever witnessed erupting!"

Daniel had finished dialing the Earth address, and sent the SG-1 signal through. "Come ON! We've gotta GO!"

Taking one final look over the MALP, one last look behind him as the horizon seemed to explode, Roger stepped back through the Gate, Sam's hand in his own.

02 AUG 2004 to 05 AUG 2004 Aftermath

P2X-899.

At precisely 11.53.26Z, the cap on the magma pit of the caldera volcano exploded, destroying the MALP, the DHD, the Stargate and everything within a one thousand mile diameter. The wormhole had remained open, with 1.7 minutes to spare.

Tony and Jeannie.

They returned to Cocoa Beach soon after Healey's volcano (as they were calling it) erupted and the excitement died down.

The news had already circulated about the ejection, splashdown and recovery of the two Endeavour astronauts. The adjustments made to the Command Module for rapid egress, following the Challenger disaster, had proven effective. The two men were rescued near a remote island of the Pacific.

Tony and Jeannie were greeted by Dr. Bellows and his wife, and many friends and coworkers. Tony announced that Jeannie had agreed to be his wife, while they were enjoying a lovely vacation after the Endeavour incident.

They also tendered Major Healey's regrets, that he was retiring to take a professorship at the University of Colorado, teaching Geology and Planetary Sciences.

Roger and Sam.

Major Dr. Roger Healey was the first and only geologist to ever witness the cataclysm of a caldera volcano erupting.

Jacob/Selmak made it clear that they did not object to his and Samantha's on-going and blossoming relationship.

By the end of this extraordinary day of firsts, Roger Healey was walking the halls of the main level of the SGC, near the conference room.

He went in to gaze at the Stargate, the embarkation room in muted darkness, only dim emergency lights glowing.

What a change that fateful Endeavour trip had been! The day had started like any launch day for him and Tony. Excitement, butterflies in the stomach, a deep buried terror, wondering, Is this the day I die?

Lying back in the pilot's and commander's chairs, seconds away from the torch going off under them, Tony and Roger looked at each other. They did their traditional thumbsup as the countdown ticked down, little realizing they were embarking on a whole new chapter in their lives.

SG-1.

The adventure continues...


End file.
